Now, that sounds just like exactly what you need to get your business fired up and moving along! But then reality creeps in…

There’s the pressure of creating a fresh, interesting and new idea. You can’t just reach into a magic hat and pull that perfect idea out. Sitting and waiting around for that genius to strike doesn’t seem action-oriented enough for you. You’re ready to get started on what’s next… but you need the idea to begin with, plus the insurance and assurance that it’s a good one.

Then there’s the danger of introducing fresh ideas into your brand. You’ve worked long and hard to build your brand and nurture your fans and clients. So, naturally, you’re worried that you’ll come up with an idea that’s fresh, exciting, new and different, pour your heart and soul into developing it, and do all the incredible work behind getting that idea out into the world… and after all of that, your clients and fans won’t like it.

That they might freak out. What if they don’t like the idea you worked so hard on? Wouldn’t it be terrible if clients who were going to hire you decide, based on your new idea, not to?

Or, worse yet, that your chatty, happy and engaged clients and fans clam up, withdraw and become uninterested and disengaged. Clearly the opposite of what you’re looking for, and a sure sign that you’re on the wrong track.

Why are new ideas so tricky?

Introducing new ideas takes a special mix of ingenuity, bravery and finesse.

Here’s how they work together:

The ingenuity to generate an idea – OK, this is more like “a bunch of new ideas”… so you can have the freedom to create a bucket full of many less-fantastic ideas on the way to one fresh, new, interesting idea. And then you need the foresight, common sense and client-understanding to sort out the good from the not-so-good ideas.

The bravery to launch that idea and incorporate it into your brand and marketing. After all, your brand is precious and you’ve worked hard to build it. Launching a new thing can be both exciting and scary – exciting because you’re proud of your new idea and can see the possibility in it, and scary because you’re not quite sure how your clients and contacts will react to it. You can cut down on the scariness by selecting a few of your clients and unveiling the idea early, to see how they feel about it and what questions they have. That way, you can fine-tune your idea with their input, to make it make the most sense and impact possible.

The finesse to introduce the idea to your clients in a way that doesn’t freak them out. This is the part that takes the most discipline. You have to roll out your idea in a way that brings your clients along with you and your excitement over it – instead of making them slam on the brakes. That means keeping them comfortable before, during and after your launch – and letting them know whether this is a whole new direction or if you’re still offering the things they’ve gotten used to.

When you bring ingenuity, bravery and finesse along on your quest for new ideas, you’ll find yourself creating the kind of innovative, interesting and engaging ideas that keep your clients coming back for more.

By: Erin Ferree

Are you “marketing at” your precious potential clients or connecting with them? In other words, do your marketing efforts feel more like you’re shouting at them with a megaphone, or like you’re having a two-way conversation?

We all have a craving for connection and conversation – for that rich, recognition-filled two-way exchange of thoughts and information.

That goes for both YOU and your potential clients… in fact, the effect can be multiplied many times over for your clients.

Feel into how much you want to be in conversation with your potential clients. How much you’d like to be on the phone with them, or talking face-to-face.

Now, imagine how much they want to be in conversation with you. After all, they’re already listening to you. I suspect many of them are yearning to be heard, to have their questions answered and to really talk to you.

Here are two traits you can use to open the conversation in a refreshing way…

Curiosity:

Have you ever really stopped to wonder about, listen to and ask your potential clients about what’s going on for them?

This goes beyond a casual, “Hi, how are you?” at the beginning of your newsletter – where you’re not actually expecting an answer.

It’s time to think about who your potential clients are, ask about what they’re up to, and explore their thoughts and feelings.

Look at them as more than just a potential project. Open up a conversation with the full intent of simply learning more about them and getting to know them – not seeing how you could help them, or looking for a need.

What you can do – ask real, specific questions in your newsletter and assure people that you really do want to know the answer. Offer opportunities for your potential clients to speak with you on Q&A calls, during call-in “office hours” or even by appointment for a short, focused session – where you’re asking them questions.

Generosity:

When was the last time you gave your clients a truly free and fantastic gift?

People love presents – when they’re real, useful, desirable gifts. Too many “free gifts” in the Internet marketing world are not really gifts at all, but thinly veiled sales pitches that people have to sign up for.

I realize this has become common practice… and there’s certainly a time and place for that in a marketing strategy… and, at the same time…

Why not give a valuable, amazing free gift that they really want, that they can use immediately and digest fully, and get deep value from? They’ll really notice and be impressed by a gift that fills a real need – that doesn’t simply open them up to a new need or shine the light on some gap or deficiency in their approach.

And, when was the last time that you gave something away that was really free? I mean that there’s no hoops to jump through and no forms to fill out. That you are giving to them with the true energy of gifting. Because you have created this gift especially for them, and you want them to have it – not because you want anything in return.

Try this – create a short and impactful free report. Tell your clients all about how to do one small, specific task. Give them resources or point them to tools. Package that gift lovingly. And then send it to all of your clients and invite them to send it to everyone they know. Include a two-line invitation to learn more at the end, plus a one-paragraph bio so that new people can get to know you. See what happens!

There is one final thought I’d love to leave you with – both of these traits need to be backed by genuine interest and attention, of course.

By: Erin Ferree

When you think about designing – or redesigning – your business’s identity, you think about finding a designer and hiring them to design a logo, right?

That’s where many small businesses go wrong. There’s a 5-step process to designing your small business’s brand image. And actually designing it is the very last step.

If you want to create a profitable, pretty and powerful brand, then you’ve got to begin at the beginning. If you begin with the first 4 steps here, then you’ll be able to design a brand that’s stronger, has a more solid base and that will be an investment that gets results instead of an expensive, creative guess!

Take a look at your materials and really evaluate whether they’re working for you – and be totally honest about how they’re not working. It stings, but it’s worth it to improve your brand!

This gives you clarity about your brand, PLUS… It lets you effectively communicate with everyone else who is involved in your business, like:

• Your clients, so that you can make a stronger connection with them.
• Your vendors:  you’ll save money and get better results from working with them by giving them this information in a clear way. And, you’ll never be in danger of having a designer or writer hijack your business again with their creative ideas – you’ll be in control.
• Your partners and affiliates, will  really understand what you’re up to, so they’ll be able to be more effective when they promote you. You’ll get more and better leads from them.

Your brand foundation consists of all of the positioning details for your business. Things like: your business’s personality, your BrandStyle, what you do, what makes you different, and your ideal client – who they are, what they want, need and desire and how they feel after they work with you. This information is absolutely essential to building a brand that really has a solid footing.

Without this, you’re just making a brand so you can… do what?  If you don’t know where you’re going, how do you know how to get there – or even if you’re making any progress at all?

Dream big and think about where you want your business to go, the lifestyle you want to live, the impact you want to make on the world and the legacy you want to leave.

Here’s where you use your Brand Foundation and your future vision to make a strong and strategic brand plan that shows exactly, step-by-step, where your brand is going and how it will get there.

Plan out where you want your business, your life and your brand to be – in 6 months, 1 year, 3 years, 5 years and beyond.

This plan should include how you want to be showing up in the world, the brand pieces you need to get there, who you want to be working with and the reputation you want to build.

It should also come complete with numbers and dates (I know, this part doesn’t sound very design-y at all!) Unless you have the numbers and dates  – how will you know if you’re accomplishing your goals? Some of these numbers should detail how much money you want your brand to bring in… so that you’ll see how you’re on-track with your monetary profits.

I know, this is the step you’ve been waiting for!

This is where a designer comes on board and works with you to design a brand identity that communicates your brand foundation, looks fabulous and connects with your ideal clients. This is where you get to input your feedback and work with that artist to create a look that reflects who you really are and that you’re really proud to market with!

That’s the whole process to designing a brand that’s powerful, profitable and pretty – and everything that happens before step 5 is the “secret sauce” that is missing from small business brands that don’t work. Just think how effective your brand could be if it had all of these components!

By: Erin Ferree

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.
   

By: Erin Ferree

What Is A Gravatar?
A Gravatar is “A Globally Recognized Avatar”. According to the Gravatar website, it’s “an image that follows you from site to site appearing beside your name when you do things like comment or post on a blog.”

Why Get A Gravatar?
A Gravatar is a great tool for Brand Education (making it more likely that people will recognize your brand), Brand Consistency (making sure that the same image is associated with your brand in every post and application) and for building credibility online.

How Do You Get A Gravatar/ Best Practices:
1. Sign up for a Gravatar account at: http://en.gravatar.com/. You’ll want to use the email that you’d like to have associated with your blog comments when signing up.
2. Choose your username. It’s recommended that you use your real name to build trust and credibility.
3. Upload your icon. The best practice here is to use your headshot if at all possible – it builds more trust and credibility than using a logo as your Gravatar. Gravatar does have an online interface that will allow you to crop your icon to a square.

That’s it! Now, when you post on blogs or websites, use the email address associated with your Gravatar account and your image will be displayed.

By: Erin Ferree