Thinking of a great name and logo for your business can be an overwhelming and stressful process. It’s even harder trying to decide alone. But, be careful relying on opinions of friends and family. This can steer you the wrong direction. A poor business name and logo choice costs more money. You’ll end up having to advertise and market ten times more just to overcome problems from choosing the wrong name and/or a terrible logo.
Whether you are thinking about re-branding your current business or you are starting a brand new business, you want to choose the best name and logo that presents you to the world in a memorable way. It’s important to take the time to choose the right name and logo because as Thomas Dawson from Branding Strategy insider stated, “Naming and verbal identity is such an essential foundation of successful strategic brand development.”
Set yourself up for success by following these 7 tips:
When choosing a name for your business it’s ideal if you can:
Keep it short as possible
This makes it much easier to fit it on tight spaces like business cards. Other formats like t-shirts, print ads, truck decals, and the like are also tight spaces because you have to make the font size as large as possible for people to be able to read the text from a distance.
Try to include major keywords as a part of your business name.
Not only does it help people to immediately “get” what you do, but your name itself contributes additional organic SEO find-ability — especially from directory listings with no description only a company name and phone number.
Take the guesswork out of your name.
Don’t make it such a mystery for people to figure out what kind of business you are from your name. Pick a name where the general population would be able to easily guess what type of business you are.
This will help any marketing you are doing to retain in the prospects’ minds better. Choosing a name that could be a multitude of different types of businesses sets you up to have to spend more money on advertising and to be super consistent advertising so you can develop brand recognition. A great exercise for this is for you to simply scroll through names of businesses in business listing directories and try to guess what businesses others are in.
When designing a logo for your company:
Focus on readable typography.
The main thing you want to have stand out are the letters, so that people can read it easily no matter what format it is in. You want a well-done typography design that people can uniquely associate with your company.
Take a look at brands like Pandora, Netflix, LinkedIn, Facebook, eBay
Use Color Variations. The logo design you choose might look great in color on paper, but complicated designs and logos with too much detail fail when trying to transfer it in other formats like black and white print, shirts, embroidery on hats, apparel, and storefront signs.
Try Several Versions. You don’t want the logo to come out looking too busy, too small or too confusing. And if your logo is too busy potential clients won’t notice it anyway, so that won’t serve you either.
Keep it super simple. This is especially important if you are really tied to having a drawing/image/mascot as a part of your logo. If you want to have a drawing incorporated into your logo look at successful brands like:
TripAdvisor. The owl is super simple.
Another owl is Hootsuite, but even that one is still pretty simple.
In keeping with the animal theme, look at the elephant in Evernote
Look at the bird in Twitter.
For graphics – look at successful brands like Nike and Adidas
The graphics they chose — even with huge logo budgets are super simple.
Take a look at amazon. Their only graphic is a simple arrow.
Look at Expedia airplane graphic — notice there are no details, just a super simple line drawing done in reverse.
Just a few simple lines go a long way to add graphics. Look at Buffer, Feedly, and Daily.
Looking for some great business advice? Share your questions here. I’m happy to answer your questions in future blog posts.
For more tips for your business be sure to look my previous blogs, like these:
I didn’t want you to miss out on this opportunity for you to achieve a breakthrough in your business this month.
I find in working with entrepreneurs one of the biggest causes of stress in your business is MONEY.
When you have financial stability and financial abundance you no longer have the pressure to keep working hard just to “make money”.
When the money flow is there, you can choose to work instead to “make a difference” through your business.
In last week’s email I gave you a sneak peek at the first half of the marketing and mindset topics.
If you have not yet signed up for this free Money Flow Formula Tele-Summit be sure to sign up now. It’s not too late to jump in.
You can listen to the replays of the video interviews until July 31st. Here is the line-up for the second half of the experts:
Day 14: How to Develop a Wealthy Mindset, Charlene Fisher Day 15: Engage, Empower, Earn! How to Use Your Story to Move People & Make Money, Gayle Nowak Day 16: How to Get Out of Your Entrepreneurial Rut, Casey Eberhart Day 17: Money Flows Where Attention Goes – The Real Secret to Creating Money in Your Business While Focusing on Sharing Your Passion, Dre Cleveland Day 18: Attracting Wealth with Hypnosis, Dr. Steve G. Jones Day 19: Rock Your Talks, Ida Shessel Day 20: Unstoppable Foundation, Cynthia Kersey Day 21: The 3 Massive Mistakes that Cost Businesses $$$, Lori Fortuna Day 22: 3 Keys to Financial Freedom, Jay Fiset Day 23: Declutter Your Mind, Money and Marketing to Design the Business and Life of Your Dreams, Sherley Grace Day 24: From Fear to Freedom, Angela Gower Day 25: Right Questions to Shift Money Flow, Jo Ann Hammond-Meiers Day 26: Review of highlights – by Jo Ann Hammond-Meiers
Discover how to short cut your success. This is a great, free resource to helping you do just that.
If you haven’t done so already, SIGN UP here for The Money Flow Tele-Summit.
We all know the saying, “It’s not what you know, but who you know.” While this can be argued indefinitely, it’s undeniable that connections do matter.
Whether you’re leading a small business or networking to get more customers, the people you know can make a difference in your business growth. Here are a few tips about why networking is an important piece of your business development strategy having and how to do it with finesse.
Paula Gregorowicz of www.thepaulagcompany.com and Yoon Cannon at Women’s Business Forum summer networking social.
Get Noticed When Networking to Get More Customers
Even in big cities, it’s not uncommon to find yourself circulating among the same set of business people. When you attend a gathering, showing up with a genuine smile, high energy and sharp attire is the first step to getting you noticed.
You should also have up-to-date business cards on hand. If you chat with someone for a little while, be sure to follow up the next day with a quick email saying you enjoyed meeting them and recapping anything business-related you discussed. You don’t want to seem pushy, but you do want to solidify your name in their minds while your face is still fresh in their memory.
If you want to be noticed in your field, there’s perhaps no better type of event to seek out than those in your local business community. Are you interested in learning how to get better at marketing your business? Head out to all the marketing-related get-togethers in your area. You never know whom you’ll meet or (better yet) who will notice you first.
Are you a personal trainer? Look for business meetings centered around the health field. There may just be future referral partners waiting to get to know you. Check out The Business Journals’ calendar to find industry events in your area.
Get Advice
Another upside to networking is the opportunity to ask successful people your most burning questions. In a networking setting, most business leaders are happy to oblige and will think of your Q&A like nothing more than a casual chat. Think about the areas in which you need the most help.
Maybe you’re a budding software entrepreneur who isn’t sure when to take the plunge and commit to his new venture full-time. Look for tech-related events to gain access to some of the top technology leaders in your area.
If you’re in the software industry, most states have some sort of a tech council that hosts numerous classes and events, like this one in Arizona. There are also many organizations that host regular networking events for entrepreneurs from a wide cross section of industries. In the Philadelphia area you can visit https://efgp.org/
In addition to getting advice at networking events, becoming a member in your local networking organizations can also help drive more clicks back to your website as most organizations have member directories published on their website with backlinks to their members.
Get Training
Networking affairs aren’t all about you. Plenty of other savvy businesspeople carve time out of their busy schedules to share their own visions, passions, guidance and knowledge. Seminars are often a great place to go if you want to gain new skills or a deeper understanding of how to grow a successful business. The speakers at these sorts of events usually have exemplary business track records and compelling information to present.
If you want to do more networking, but you are limited on time you should consider networking online. LinkedIn is hands down, the best platform to network for business. When you know how to laser target your strategy on LinkedIn you can turn just a few minutes a day networking online to grow your list and grow your business. Get started with a free training on how to use LinkedIn for business.
Whether you’re networking in person or networking online, when it comes to growing your business we have all heard the saying, “it’s not what you know;
it’s who you know.”
If you’re hesitant about networking, now’s the time to overcome this limiting mindset. Just remember that each individual at these events is a person too, and most of them are also looking for friendly and savvy acquaintances to make. Make sure you’re well-groomed, speak confidently and have plenty of business cards on hand. With some practice, you’ll be getting noticed, receiving advice and soaking up business wisdom in no time.
QUESTION: What is your #1 biggest challenge when it comes to attracting new clients through networking?
“Although I’ve been successfully selling $ 3 Million a year in my company’s services, I have yet to leverage Linkedin. How can I get started with Linkedin to make my selling process quicker and easier?”
— Leonard Schmidt,
Senior Account Rep, Philadelphia.
Leonard, thanks for submitting your question. Even though Linkedin has been out for a long time now, there are still many business owners and sales people who have not integrated this great marketing tool. Here are my tips for you:
How to Get Started Using LinkedIn to Attract New Clients
If you’re not using Linkedin as a part of your sales & marketing strategy, you should be. With the power of social networking like Linkedin, there’s really no need anymore to have to cold call. Your batting ratio will always be depressingly lower by cold calling. Why not instead set yourself up with warm, pre-qualified strategic introductions to your target prospects?
Social networking is a great tool to leverage when you are looking to find new clients for business. But, some social networks are much more effective at helping you find new clients than others — LinkedIn for example. Unlike the odd bunch you find on Facebook, usually there to have fun and interact with their friends, LinkedIn is a business-oriented social network which people join in order to make business connections and find new opportunities in their fields of endeavour.
A brief look at the LinkedIn platform will show you people whose profiles are categorized according to:
Countries;
Industries and companies where they work;
Educational institutions they attended;
Their fields of specialty and if you are registered on the LinkedIn platform:
Who they possibly know that you might know within your network as well.
Here’s 5 quick actions you can take right now to start making Linkedin work for you:
1. Join 20+ interest groups. LinkedIn also has interest groups where people from a particular field or industry or people with common business interests participate in.
Using these details, you easily find out that you have access to the following information:
People with specific positions within a company or industry;
Target market of persons and companies for your products and services;
Related industries which might be interested in products and services you have to offer;
Affinity groups in which you can network to discover new clients.
By skimming through the posts in these interest groups you can also get a good sense of what the hot topics are, so you can make your message relevant to the specific issues your group members care about the most.
2. Consider advertising options. Another useful feature, which LinkedIn offers is the ability to market to members through the use of its in-platform advertising system. With this tool, instead of bothering yourself about making direct contact with other members or sending information, which may end up not being replied to, you can easily set up an add or a series of adds and list the parameters and the demographics you want these ads to target. After this, you can simply watch the new leads and clients come in, based on the effectiveness of your advertising campaign.
3. Look for targeted live events. You can also used LinkedIn to find out which events your connections, or at least people in your industry, are attending and how to attend these events to physically network with potential new clients within your industry. You can even market your products and services at such events. Such events provide you with the direction to know where your industry is headed and potential new developments you would otherwise be unaware of.
4. Search for your ideal customers. One simple tool, which people tend to overlook on the LinkedIn platform, is the search field, where you can search for People, Groups, Companies, Jobs as well as a number of other details. I’ve listed the People, Groups and Companies aspect, because these are the most important when seeking out new clients.
You can easily put in a search term for whatever product or service you’re selling and see the companies, people or groups dedicated to those interested in the product. The number of leads you get from this search activity depends on how creative you get in seeking out search terms which People, Groups or Companies may have included as part of their information on the platform and which would be an indication that they are interested in whatever you have to offer.
5. Build your expertise. The final great tool on LinkedIn, which will help with new client sourcing through the platform, is LinkedIn Answers. It can also be accessed via the search form as well as the “More” category option on the menu bar once logged into LinkedIn. Using LinkedIn Answers requires regular participation on the platform, as it is an area where members get to ask questions and other members get to answer them.
Using this tool, you can find your area of specialty on LinkedIn and answer questions by other members regularly with the aim of becoming an authority in your area of specialty on LinkedIn. This will improve your profile ranking on the website and also introduce you to new clients, who want further information based on the answers you may have provided or your recognized expertise within that industry.
A lot of business owners have made use of this means to attract new business to their companies and profit from it immensely. In fact, I would have never gotten any of my international clients, who would have never heard about my business growth coaching practice in Philadelphia, if it wasn’t for them accessing my expertise through LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is a great tool for business and it goes beyond the simple listing of your personal profile and connections with people you have already done business with. Using the tips and tools offered here, you could leverage this business-oriented social network platform to provide you an ongoing supply of new clients.
About Yoon Cannon: Top business coach Yoon Cannon has helped thousands of small business owners, entrepreneurs, coaches, consultants and sales teams achieve dramatic results in growing your business. Over the past 20 years Yoon has started 4 successful companies and sold 3 of them. She offers fresh insights as a seasoned business growth expert. Yoon delivers proven process for your sales, marketing and management development. Grab free valuable gifts and resources at https://www.ParamountBusinessCoach.com To book Yoon to speak at your next event email: YoonCannon@ParamountBusinessCoach.com To schedule a complimentary business coaching consultation call (215) 292-4947.
When it comes to having bad breath no one knows they have it unless someone else tells them. Bad breath can happen in your business. And, it’s hard to know you have it unless someone else tells you.
Bad breathe — bad word of mouth advertising will always destroy any good advertising. This is what I call having the bad breath syndrome in your business. Unfortunately, great marketing will never override bad word of mouth.
No amount of good advertising will convert into more customers if people have poor experiences with your business. You need to separate the two.
It’s important to incorporate improving customer experience as a part of your marketing plan, but first you have to find out where there’s bad breath.
The First Time I Discovered I Had “Bad Breath”
When I was a new business owner, I asked one of my long time customers named Joyce, to give me her feedback on a full-page ad I was running for the performing arts center I owned at the time because I thought I should have been getting more customers from it.
I was taken by surprise at her remark. Joyce told me bluntly, “Yoon, it’s not your ad. It’s your bathrooms.”
What? I asked in disbelief. What are you talking about? How are my bathrooms hurting my sales? I asked in total confusion. I have those bathrooms cleaned every week.
She went on to explain they get used everyday by hundreds of people. When they see dust bunnies on the baseboards and trash cans full the bathrooms are what mothers (who are the customers) talk about.
Not being a mom yet at the time, I remember getting angry inside listening to Joyce’s decision criteria. That’s not what you should care about! I objected, saying things like,
“But, we have world renown faculty, you won’t get at any other school! We have the largest facility. We are the only one stop shop for families. We are the only school who answers the phone every day. We have the best customer service!”
Once my pride finally melted, I realized it didn’t matter if I disagreed with her decision criteria. If sparkling bathrooms would improve their experience with my business, it seemed a no-brainer to just fix the problem.
That day I learned you’ve got to see your business through your customers’ eyes, not your own.
“What you see depends on what you’re looking for.” -Anonymous
ACTION STEP: Ask your customers / clients what would improve their experience with your business. Then, listen to your customers and fix the problem.
QUESTION: What ways do you use to discover poor customer experiences with your business? Share your tips and comments below.
I used to think gift registries were tacky for anything other than weddings. But, after listening to my 3 kids describe how much they struggled to figure out what to get me for my birthday I finally decided to create a list of ideas for them. (Plus, I was piling up a closet full of past gifts I didn’t really know what to do with). This photo was the first item I added to their “useful gift ideas for mom” list. Then I added other ideas I’d enjoy receiving like sunglasses, sunflowers, daisies, silver earrings, scented candles, etc. It turns out having this new list was a big hit with my kids.
It struck me how we struggle with the same thing in our businesses. We can guess what we think our prospects want and risk wasting time and money trying to give them things they didn’t really like. Or, we can simply ask them — “what do you want?”.
So, in this week’s newsletter that is what I’m asking you. I really want to know from YOU — what do you want to read about?
The tips I share in this weekly newsletter is my GIFT to YOU. I want to help you enjoy the business growth I know is possible for you. In order to help me serve you better, please take this quick 2 minute survey. Click the Survey Monkey link below.
When you do, I’ll send you an additional GIFT – a Strategic Plan Template for Creating a 6 & 7 Figure Business! Thanks in advance for doing that right now.
