Do you use testimonials to market your small business? (You should – they’re great credibility-builders. But, I digress…)

The FTC changed the rules about what your testimonials can say back in October of 2009. Here’s how it boils down:

1. If your testimonial talks about outstanding results, and these results aren’t those seen by everyone who gets your product, you have to add a disclaimer stating “results not typical”.

2. You have to disclose if you gave payments or free products to the people giving your testimonials. Did you send out free copies of your ebook in exchange for early reviews? Allow people to sit in your teleclass free of charge for a glowing testimonial? Now you have to make that clear.

3. Celebrities have to disclose their relationships with advertisers.

If you already have testimonials, consider reviewing them and making sure that they’re “up to par”.

This information should help you add value to your consulting clients as well, if you’re involved in a role that involves testimonial gathering or marketing with testimonials.

More details via www.ftc.gov

Brand design can extend into all realms of a business’s designs – even into the design of feedback or subscription forms on your website. Here’s an example of how you can customize a form to match your brand design.

This is the original output of a form-creation program:

It’s decent, certainly – but we can do better.

When you’re designing your form, keep your brand’s color palette, font style and other brand standards in mind. Here’s a designed version of the same form, followed by a discussion of the changes that were made.

1. Adding a headline can help to make the purpose of your form clear. Headlines also make the form design more eye-catching. Design the headline to match either the other headlines or sub-heads on your page, in terms of font face, alignment, color choice and size.

2. Include instructions on how to use the form, and set expectations about what will happen once the form is filled out. This helps to visually anchor the form and to also make the person filling it out feel more comfortable about doing so. Again, the font face, alignment, color choice and size of these instructions should be matched to your other materials – in this case, your body copy.

3. Style the form field labels. Change the font face, size and color palette on the form field labels (Name, Email, Company, etc.) to match your body copy.

4. Align the form field labels (usually left, unless your brand guidelines specify another choice). You may be able to do this by just styling the text, but you may have to change the table styling if your form was delivered in an HTML table.

5. Design or style the “Submit” button. Your choices here include:

1. Keeping the default style (shown here)
2. Changing the text that appears on the button. This can be done in the HTML code by changing the ‘value=”Submit”‘ text to read ‘value=”Your Text Here”‘.
3. Swapping out the default button style for a graphical button. The code for this is: <inputype=”image” src=”images/submit.jpg” value=”Submit” alt=”Submit”> where ’submit.jpg’ is your image file. If you choose this route, design the button to match your color palette and brand, but make sure that it is still easily identifiable as a submit button. You may do this through the words on the button, or by using an arrow graphic if space is limited.

6. Consider placing a border around your form. This can help to distinguish it from other elements on the page, and help it stand out from the rest of your content. Your border can be solid, dashed or dotted. Choose the option that aligns with your brand.

7. Add a background color. This is another way that you can make your form stand out and call attention to itself. Choose a background color that your headline and body copy colors contrast with, to ensure that they will be legible. And, make sure the background color coordinates with and compliments the rest of your brand. You may also choose to place a subtle pattern in the background if your brand calls for that.

Tags: Running a Consulting Business, web 2.0 marketing strategy

A consultant can handle their “Keep In Touch” Marketing (where you keep in touch with past clients, interested prospects and people who have requested that you email them) in a few different ways. These solutions include:

• An e-zine (email newsletter)
• Having people subscribe to get emails from your blog through a solution like Feedburner
• RSS streams

Should you have an ezine list or have people subscribe to your blog?

The answer to this depends on the amount of work you want to do in your marketing.

Newsletter

A traditional newsletter mailing list is more work – you have to write the newsletters and send them out. You can customize this option more – from look and feel, to the frequency that the newsletters are sent out with, to other offers or promotions that you send out with your information. But, this also means that you have to do the work of sending out an email newsletter:

• signing up for a newsletter service

• setting the account up

• designing your email newsletter template

• setting up your newsletter each time it has to go out

• testing and sending it

And, that is the process you have to go through each time the newsletter has to go out (and I’m not even talking about putting together your articles and offers for the newsletter).

Blog Subscription

If you just have people subscribe to your blog (through a service such as Feedblitz, which integrates easily with Typepad or Wordpress), then the work of sending out the newsletter is done for you. Your blog posts, if you have made any, get emailed to people who sign up once a day. You don’t have to do anything extra. If you don’t write a blog post, nothing gets sent out. And, if you want to communicate with your list, you just post on the blog – and take care of 2 marketing tasks at once, because your blog is refreshed and your customers have been updated.

Feedblitz also allows you to log in to your account on their site and view a list of your subscribers – to see exactly who’s subscribed. There are other features on their site that allow you to email your subscribers separately from your blog – for example, if you want to make a special discount offer to subscribers only.

RSS Feeds

The other option is to have people read your blog through RSS Streams, or RSS assistance programs like Feedburner. These are neat and easy for the client to do – they just grab your RSS address from your blog and then paste it into their email program or RSS aggregator. And, they increase the likelihood that people will keep up with your blog – instead of leaving it to them to remember to pull up your blog site every few days. But, the major disadvantage to you here is that they don’t have to give you their details in exchange. That means that you can only communicate with these contacts through the blog – which is better than nothing, but not ideal.

Tips to visually improve the quality of a Flip video (or, really any video that you create for your website):

1. Dress the part. If you know you’re going to be making an on-camera appearance, get ready for it. You may consider wearing your company colors, or a version of those. Or, wear an outfit that’s particularly complimentary. Solid colors tend to work better in front of the camera than stripes or busy patterns. And, be extra-neat with your hair and makeup – the camera shows, and sometimes amplifies, any mistakes.

2. Stake out a spot for the camera. Arrive to your location early, and bring a friend to help you select the best angle from which to take the video. Think about not getting the camera too much in the audience’s way while still getting your shot framed correctly.

3. Think about framing. In most cases, you’ll want either a waist-up shot or a head-and-shoulders shot. If you use your hands a lot while you speak, or for a longer presentation, consider the waist-up shot. If you have a very short presentation, then a head and shoulders shot may make more sense.

4. Watch the background. Make sure there are no clocks acting as halos above your head, and that any artwork doesn’t distract from your message. Also, protect your background if you can – make sure no people will be walking through, or giving you “bunny ears.”

5. Be stable. The “Blair Witch Project” can get away with shaky videos and dropping the camera, but your business video should be as steady as possible to make a pleasant viewing experience. Use a tripod to keep things steady during the video. It may help to have a mini tripod (like this one: http://bit.ly/UVher) and also a taller tripod, so that you can see which one works best in the space.

6. Keep your place. This is an old trick that I remember from drama class in high school. If you’re going to be standing during the speech, or even moving around a bit, bring a piece of painter’s tape (which won’t wreck the floor) and mark your position on the floor. Occasionally, glance down to make sure you’re on the mark, which will mean that you are framed in the best possible way in your video.

7. Get assistance. If you’re going to be moving around, the camera will need to be moved to track you and keep you in the frame. For this, using a large tripod makes sense because many of them have a swiveling head, which will allow an assistant to track your movements smoothly.

8. No disembodied questions. If you’re going to have a question-and-answer period during your talk, warn the videographer – so that they can be on the ready to film the audience as they ask questions. That way, you won’t have disembodied questions being asked from behind the camera – which looks a little strange.

9. Inform the audience. Most people don’t like to be surprised and find themselves suddenly on camera. Let them know at the beginning of the event (or even when they sign up) that you will be filming.  And, let them know how they may appear in the final video. Don’t forget to have anyone who’s recognizable in the video sign a Model Release (some people who film videos during seminars pass out Model Releases at the front door, and collect them almost immediately after the seminar begins). You can get a sample Model Release here: http://bit.ly/GLvps .

With these tips, your videos  will look more professional, and they can become a beneficial part of your brand.

If you need to record an MP3 of a teleseminar or class, here are some tips to improve the quality of your recording:

• Make sure you have a foam cover on your microphone, which will limit popping of the “p” sound.
• Limit outside noise – don’t record when traffic outside your office is heavy, or when your neighbor is mowing the lawn.
• Limit inside noise – send the dog out for a walk with someone, make sure your house is nice and quiet (or barricade yourself in the quietest room).
• Limit echoes – don’t record in the bathroom. Even if it’s the quietest room.
• Bookend with an introduction and conclusion that mention your website/brand if appropriate.
• Test the sound a few times before going for the whole recording – listen for background noises you’ve missed, make sure you’re not breathing directly into the mic, etc.
• If you’re doing a longer recording, consider breaking it up into sections and recording 1 at a time and then splicing together in software. You’ll be less likely to get voice fatigue.
• Have water, Kleenex, all that sort of stuff nearby. Warm water helps me to recover my voice.
• Consider recording while standing up to keep up your energy levels.

Do you have any other tips that you’d like to share? Do so in the comments! I’d love to know.

You can increase the interactivity of your website with an email form. An email form can help your customers have a conversation with you, and can help you suggest or control the topics of conversation. You can:

• Collect visitors’ email addresses for an opt-in newsletter
• Have prospects contact you for more information
• Have clients send in their project-start-up information (like an intake questionnaire)
• Have interested visitors ask you a question or suggest article topics

Creating a form that emails you its’ content can help with all of these tasks and more. But, how do you code the form?

I just found a free online tool that works really well for this purpose:

http://www.emailmeform.com/?page=fwstep

You sign up for an account, and then it walks you through the process of creating an email form. Then, it generates a simple link that you can paste into your website code, email to your designer, or place on a blog post.

The added bonus to these forms is that they come with CAPTCHA images – those combinations of letters that some forms make you type in. These help control spam submissions.

Try it out if you need to make your website a bit more interactive.

What happens to marketing your business when you get busy?

Since most consultancies are 1-person businesses, it’s good to make sure that you address this question and make a plan to handle it. One person businesses can reach their manpower capacity pretty quickly, and you need to make sure that no matter what, you’re still marketing consistently.

Whether you’ve gotten busy with client work or personal matters, it can really help your business to have a few marketing pieces at the ready. These can also be helpful strategies when you go on vacation – to make sure your marketing is uninterrupted while you are gone.

- A couple of pre-scheduled blog posts. Your blog allows you to set up posts before it’s time for you to publish them. You can either save these posts as a draft or you can actually set them up to be published on a certain date, automatically.

- Some pre-written articles. This is especially important if you publish a newsletter. Just having an article or two set aside means that if you get busy, you can release that to your list without a huge investment of time. If you’ve really got some time and space to set these up, consider pre-formatting the newsletter too so that it’s all ready to go.

- Make your website answer some of the most frequently asked questions you get from your clients. If your website can field basic questions, like your getting-started process, or who you typically work with, or what clients need to have at the ready to maximize the effectiveness of working with you, then you can refer people there to really learn more about working with you. This can help protect your time, keep your business running when you’re busy or out of town, and keep clients happy.

Have you ever come across a company logo that looked like a jumbled mess of drawings? Where there were so many elements competing for your attention that you didn’t even know where to look or what it all meant? The job of your logo is to communicate what your business is all about in an instant. But if you try to say too much in that instant, it’s more likely your customers and prospects will either not get the message or get the wrong message.

The key to avoiding a confusing logo is to keep it simple. Here are three easy steps to create a clear, uncomplicated logo as part of a corporate identity development strategy — a logo that communicates your key message to your target audience:

1. Don’t try to say too much. Your logo should tell the story of your brand. That story is made up of four parts:
      
   • Your company’s personality
     
   • The type of services or products you offer
     
   • What distinguishes you from your competition
     
   • Who you can best help

   Once you develop your brand story, scale it back to one or possibly two main ideas that you want customers and prospects to instantly see in your logo. If you’re trying to tell a complicated story, then your logo design will reflect that and have little impact. Again, simple is best.

2. Don’t include too many details in the icon. A logo that contains a lot of visual elements may turn out to be too complicated. Keep the number of shapes, lines, and other design elements at a minimum to make the image as clear and clean as possible. If you include too many design elements, it’s more likely that when you scale the logo down, some of the finer details will be blurred, and it may not print well.
3. Keep the icon and the name of your company separate. If you layer your company’s name on top of the icon in your logo, it can be difficult to read. Moreover, if you include text on top of the icon, the concept may get lost. Separating the image and the company name will make both easier to read and understand.
   

There are 3 main types of logos that a consultant can choose to use for their business. Each has advantages and disadvantages for the consultant. Here are explanations and samples of each type, to help you choose the best match for your consultancy.

Combination logo: The most effective option for creating a consultant’s logo is to make a logo that contains both a graphic and your company name. This approach is called a combination logo. This type of logo contains both a memorable logo graphic that tells the story of who you are, what you do, and what makes you different as well as spelling out your business name for easy identification. One big advantage of this type of logo is that it combines an image and text – and having both combined will make the logo more memorable for viewers.

Text logo: A logo can be as simple as having your company name typeset in a unique font. The company name can have a small graphic embellishment – like an underline, or it can appear on a colored background. This is a simple approach that can work for many consultants. If you do go this route, you’ll miss out on some of the benefits that you can get by including a graphic in your company name – namely, that your logo won’t have an image in it to help clients remember it. However, if your company name is long, this approach will help you to keep the logo as clean and simple as possible. And, if your consultancy’s services or goals may change over time, there is no danger of your icon becoming inappropriate – since you don’t have one.

Symbol-only logo: You can design a logo that’s a symbol only (think Apple Computers or Nike). This approach is not recommended for consultants, though, because this type of logo takes a big investment in brand education to build up the association of your business name with the logo. Without that association, the logo will not have any meaning to the viewer, and will not help to build your brand.

A logo is an important tool for a consultant because it gives your business an identity and a face of its’ own. This gives you four major benefits:

1.   Makes your business look established, stable and successful. People want to do business with businesses that have experience, who will be there for them in the future (and in some consulting areas, this translates to just being around and available to complete the project!), and who are good at what they do. Investing in creating a logo can show your prospects that you fill these qualifications.

2. Makes your business look bigger and more official. This is the difference between positioning yourself as a freelancer and a consultant. Without a logo, you’re just a person, working by themselves, in a spare bedroom in your house. With a logo, you suddenly become a business –- and you’ll carry the increased credibility that brings with it. This credibility will help to assure your potential clients that you can handle their project.

3.   Gives you an image to place on your marketing materials. Having an image on your marketing materials instead of just text will make your materials look more visually interesting. More visual interest makes it more likely that your materials will be picked up, read and retained by potential clients. This isn’t to say you should stop at the logo when adding graphics to your materials, but it’s an excellent start.

4.   Contributes to your marketing’s consistency. Starting all of your marketing pieces with your logo will help you to create a consistent set of marketing pieces. Making sure your marketing pieces are consistent will help your clients to recognize each of your pieces as yours. And, as they receive or see more of your marketing, they will see your marketing message repeated again and again. This repetition will help them to remember you when they have a need for your consulting services.