Monthly Archives: October 2014
How to Write Copy that Sells
“The customer isn’t a moron; she is your wife. You insult her intelligence if you assume that a mere slogan and a few vapid adjectives will persuade her to buy anything.” – David Ogilvy
The art of writing good copy is one that few do well. It’s a challenge to write content that is not only engaging, but that boosts sales as well. The good news is that with a little hard work and focus, you can create stellar content for your business that will boost sales. Here are a few tips to get you started:
How to Create a Consistent Brand in 3 Easy Steps
If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a million times – the key to great branding is consistency. You’ll see this in virtually every textbook, blog post and eBook about branding and it’s not wrong. Offering up a consistent image for your brand directly correlates to the level of success you’ll be able to achieve.
You might think, “Ok, how hard can it be to use the same logo and fonts and colors in my marketing?” And while your logo, font and color choices are all vitally important in maintaining a consistent brand image, your brand is so much more than what it looks like in an advertisement.
To offer up a truly consistent brand image and build your business, here are three things you should focus on:
Really understanding your brand position
Your brand position helps explain who you are as a company and who you want to sell to. A good brand position helps establish where you fall in the marketplace and how you are different from your competitors and understanding your brand position will help set the tone for all your marketing and branding. Still not clear on what your brand position is? Take a look at these questions to help clarify:- Who are my customers or who do I want my customers to be?
- What do you want your brand to be known for?
- What do you do better or different from your competition?
- How would I describe my brand’s personality?
Establish your brand image
Once you’ve established your brand position, work on cementing an image for your brand. Crafting a brand image is hard work and will definitely include the following:- Creating a killer logo
- Choosing a font or set of fonts to use in all marketing, social media and branding
- Choosing a color palette to work
Articulate your brand standards and stick to them
Once you establish your brand position and your brand image, don’t be content to let your ideas just float around in your brain. Commit those branding ideas to paper so that you have something tangible to draw from. Better yet, put together a simple brand standard guide, which outlines the following:- What your logo looks like
- Any variations of your logo (alternate colors and layouts)
- How your logo should be used
- Any colors that are important for your brand
- Any fonts that are important for your brand
- Any brand images, artwork, or mascot
- Specifics for how your company name should be printed (lowercase vs. uppercase)
Is it Time to Trademark your Logo?
As the public face of your brand, your logo is a critical piece of your business success and should be guarded carefully. Acquiring a trademark for your logo is one way to ensure that your brand and image are protected. If you’ve been contemplating the idea of how and when to trademark your logo, here’s what you need to know:
What is a logo trademark?
The dictionary definition of trademark is “a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs, that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.” In other words, the definition of trademark basically the same as the definition for a logo. The one key distinction is that a trademark also includes a legal filing that protects your brand and image from being copied or used inappropriately. A logo trademark is like having a bodyguard for your brand and it’s definitely a good idea if you are serious about your business.Can I do business without a logo trademark?
Absolutely! Many businesses operate successfully for years without attaining a trademark for their logo. In the early phases of starting a business where the budget is tight, it can be difficult to free up enough funds to pay for a trademark. Here’s the good news – In the U.S., from the first time that you use your logo, you establish what is called “common law trademark”. Assuming that you were the first entity to actually use the logo, you can actually claim ownership without formally registering it with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. However, you should know that common law trademarks only apply to the geographic area in which you are operating, so registering your logo for trademark is still a good idea. You should also know that if you begin using your logo without doing a full-scale search to make sure your logo isn’t in use opens you up to a lot of risk both financially and legally. Note: While very cost-effective, free logo websites and online logo contests open you up to some potential issues when it comes to establishing a trademark for your logo. Many times these services use generic clip art for multiple designs and you end up with a logo that is not unique enough to qualify for a trademark. Your best option is to create a truly custom logo if you want to establish a trademarked brand either with logo design software or by hiring a professional designer.The downsides if you don’t trademark your logo?
By operating your business without a logo trademark, you open yourself up to a couple issues: 1) Copycats – Common law trademarks only extend so far and generally only cover the geographic area in which you operate the business. If you were the first entity to use the logo, you should have a leg up on whomever is trying to use your logo, but it’s going to be a much more difficult and lengthy process if you don’t have a legal trademark. 2) You could unintentionally use someone else’s logo. Without doing the proper searches to make sure that your desired logo is in the clear, you could inadvertently start establishing your brand on something that was already trademarked. This would involve redesigning your brand from the ground up including website, business cards and possibly even your business name. Not to mention that this also opens your business up to legal action.How much does a logo trademark cost?
It currently costs $325 or more to file a trademark application directly with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The USPTO provides a wealth of information if you choose to file your application without any legal assistance, however seeking some legal advice will probably make it more likely that your application is accepted. There are also online services such as LegalZoom that charge a small amount on top of the filing fee, but the application process is greatly simplified and streamlined. On the flipside, a trademark lawyer will charge anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand, but you’ll get the most personal attention.So when is the right time to trademark your logo?
There is no hard and fast rule for when it’s time to legally trademark your logo. At the very least, you should run some basic searches before you launch your business to make sure that you are not infringing on any established trademarks. Refer to our full Logo Trademark Guide for more detailed information.Logo Design Prep Checklist
Designing a logo can be a daunting task even with the best tools in the world. How do you capture the essence of who your company is in one small brand image? On the surface, designing a logo can seem like an almost insurmountable task, but let us assure you that it doesn’t have to be. One of the things that will make the logo design process so much easier is if you can do a little prep work ahead of time.
To help you get your head around the process of designing a logo, we’ve put together a straightforward and simple checklist. Before you start the process of designing a logo, do yourself a favor and think through the following questions. It will help focus your efforts and will probably give you some good ideas too!
What is the name of your company or product?
The vast majority of logos highlight the company name or product and for most small businesses, we would certainly recommend using your company name. There are cases (like the Boston Red Sox), that a company may choose not to incorporate the name, but for most small businesses, this is a no-brainer.
If the logo is for a company, what is your primary product?
What you sell can and should influence the design of your logo. If it makes sense to tie in your industry or primary product in your logo, by all means, do so! Remember that your logo not only needs to look good to your current customers, but it needs to do the job of attracting new ones as well.
Do you have a tagline?
You wouldn’t necessarily need to include the tagline with the logo, but if you have an established tagline, it can certainly help establish the tone that you want to convey with your logo.
What is your company’s personality?
Are you laid back and fun or do you want to be known as extremely professional? You need to establish the tone that you want to convey with your logo before you design it. You also need to take into consideration your industry as well. You may very well run a fun, laid back business, but if you work in a very serious industry, your logo probably needs to be more on the straight-laced side. Think about where your company would fall on the spectrum of these descriptors:
If you do it right and put a little time in at the start to really think about your business and your logo, it should make the process of designing a logo for you business a whole lot less daunting!
- Friendly or Professional
- High energy or Extremely thorough
- Modern or Traditional
- Cutting edge or Established
- Fun or Serious
- Accessible or High end
If you do it right and put a little time in at the start to really think about your business and your logo, it should make the process of designing a logo for you business a whole lot less daunting!
3 Easy Ways to Up Your Branding Game for the 4th of July
3 Easy Ways to Up Your Branding Game for the 4th of July
For most small businesses, holidays are a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they present an awesome opportunity to do something fun and different with your marketing strategy, on the other hand, it can be challenging to find the time and resources to make changes to an already jam-packed calendar. The good news is that there are some really quick, easy and fun ways that you can show off your 4th of July spirit and the best news of all is that you don’t have to bust open your marketing budget to show that your company has holiday spirit. Here are a few tips for how you can incorporate the 4th of July into your branding:
1. Freshen up your color scheme
There is no better way to show your 4th of July pride than by incorporating red, white and blue into your color scheme! There are so many areas that you can quickly and easily update the look and feel of your branding that you’d almost be crazy not to do something fun. For example, think about changing your website background to a patriotic image or update your Facebook photo to the American flag. You can also tie in a patriotic color scheme with any emails you send, which will help provide some consistency and will look great to boot. If you have a physical location, think about updating your window displays to show off a little patriotic pride, have some patriotic gifts like stickers, flags or temporary tattoos to hand out to your best customers.
2. Show off your company’s personality
Holidays like the 4th of July are awesome opportunities to showcase the unique voice of your company and there are so many ways to do this. Because there is a broader context through which you are pushing your messaging, you have the opportunity to play up some of your inherent personality traits and still get your message across. A few ideas include posting some candid shots from your company bar-b-que on your Facebook page, writing a company blog post about your favorite 4th of July traditions (make sure there is a logical tie-in to your product), or sprucing up your company uniforms with a patriotic touch. There are many, many other things you can do as well, but the important thing to keep in mind is to let your personality sparkle. (See what I did there? )
3. Connect with your customers in a totally non-sales way
As a small business owner, your ultimate responsibility is for a healthy bottom line, but that doesn’t mean that your messaging needs to be sales-focused 100% of the time. Try sending out a personal email to your best customers wishing them a happy 4th of July. Better yet, if you have a little extra cash to spend, send an actual card or postcard with well-wishes or a thank you. As mentioned above, you can also think about some small, inexpensive gifts to hand out to your best customers – something that ties in with the 4th of July and your business works best. Your customers will appreciate the gesture and even if the idea doesn’t generate a ton of revenue, you’ll have fostered some goodwill and helped build a loyal customer base.
Whatever you do, make sure that all your efforts are well thought out and are genuine. Above all, you want your branding to be authentic and genuine to your company’s unique personality. Happy 4th of July week!
How Not To Design Your Logo
There are about a million places on the internet that tell you how you should design your logo, and based on what the company is selling, every article is going to vary slightly. In a nutshell, they are all going to tell you the same thing: you want a logo that is unique, simple and memorable. We even have our own tips for creating a great logo (which you should absolutely read!)
But telling you how to design an amazing logo is not what this article is about. This article is all about what you need to do to avoid logo disaster. This is how not to design your logo and reading this article could mean the difference between logo triumph and logo failure. So read on to find out the 8 things you absolutely shouldn’t do when designing your logo:
Use stock art, clip art or photographs
There are a few rules of logo design that everyone generally agrees upon and one of those rules is that your logo, above all else, must be unique. It may be tempting to grab some free stock art or clip art from one of the thousands of websites that provide them, but grabbing a free image off the internet is one surefire way to make sure that your logo fails. The reason that clipart logos fail almost every time is that in general, these images are neither unique, nor are they memorable. If your logo is going to represent your unique business, it needs to do the job of helping to set your business apart from your competition. A free graphic from a random website is not going to help you accomplish that, no matter how cool you think it looks. That’s not to say that free logo and clipart sites don’t have value. What you do want to take from logo websites and clip art websites is inspiration. Take a look at what is out there and let it help inspire you to create something that has the feel of the images you love, but is 100% unique and 100% your own.Copy Someone Else’s Logo
Oof – this rule is a big one. You may think that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but to a logo designer who has put their blood, sweat and tears into a logo design, imitation is really just theft. Yes, there are some beautiful logos out there and yes, today’s technology makes it incredibly easy to copy or lift someone else’s work, but it is absolutely not worth it in the end. Do yourself a favor and commit to never copying another designer’s work.Use a complicated visual metaphor
When trying to up the ante with your logo design, it can be tempting to try and do something overly clever or meaningful. When done right, these visual metaphors are a fun and interesting way to help consumers engage with your brand. For instance, Amazon’s A to Z smile, representing that they carry everything “from A to Z” or the arrow hidden in the white space in FedEx’s logo are both great examples of visual metaphors that really work. Unfortunately a simple visual metaphor is rarely easy to execute and most of the time the metaphor will be lost on your customer. A surprising example is Toyota’s logo. You may look at those ovals and think, “hey, that’s kind of a clever way to show the letter T.” However, there is actually a lot more meaning behind that logo design than you would ever guess. Here’s what Toyota says about their logo: “The current Toyota Mark consists of three ovals: the two perpendicular center ovals represent a relationship of mutual trust between the customer and Toyota. These ovals combine to symbolize the letter “T” for Toyota. The space in the background implies a global expansion of Toyota’s technology and unlimited potential for the future.” While the logo itself is solid and conveys the brand well, I would be shocked if many consumers knew the actual meaning behind Toyota’s highly visible logo. The point is, visual metaphors can work for your logo, but it’s best not to make the metaphor the entire logo.Go With the Tried and True Cliché
It might be that the saddest thing in the world is a cliché that thinks it’s not a cliché. The same goes for logos – the most lackluster logos are the ones that use the same worn out image as every other business in their industry. It’s the tooth on the dentist logo or the scales of justice on the lawyer’s logo or the grains of wheat on your local bakery’s logo. No matter what the industry is, there is sure to be at least one logo image that is so overdone that it’s the first thing you think of. Creating a logo without employing some sort of cliché can actually be a challenge. You want your logo to be clear about the services or product that your company provides, so it’s natural to want to showcase that in a very clear way. It just so happens that usually the clearest visual is usually the biggest cliché. To avoid walking down the “it’s been done to death” path, try thinking of new ways you can present that old cliché. Sometimes a fresh coat of paint is all a logo needs to give it new life.Design By Committee
Because designing a logo is neither simple or straightforward, it can be tempting to get as many brains in the room to help with the design process. One word of advice here, “Don’t.” Assembling a committee of individuals with strong opinions about what a logo should look like may seem like a great idea, but in general, one of three things will happen:- It’ll turn into a democracy where each feature of the logo is voted on.
- When democracy rules, the process feels very fair, which is great for your committee members. However, the resulting logo is usually a mess of ideas from each contributing individual and is too weak to stand on it’s own.
- The loudest voice in the room will win.
- It’s safe to say that with any committee, there will be at least one individual who is just a little bit more dominant than the rest. It’s often the case that the loudest individual doesn’t always have the best ideas either. Unfortunately when you decide to design your logo by committee, you run the risk of the loudest member of the team running away with the project.
- Compromise will be the name of the game
- If your committee is composed of nice individuals whose goal is to play nicely together, you may end up with a compromised logo. This type of committee will give a little here and take a little there until the logo is a mess of some elements that everyone liked. The problem is that when there is no cohesive theme, the logo ends up being confusing and messy.
Use a free logo designer
If you have a limited budget for designing your logo, it can be tempting to use one of the plethora of free logo design websites available these days. While it’s true that these websites make it incredibly easy to design a logo, it’s also true that they offer the same stock images, fonts and colors to every other person who uses their service. In other words – you get what you pay for and in this case that is a stock logo that is probably being used by a dozen other businesses. There is nothing wrong with taking these free logo websites out for a spin. It’ll be worth it just to give you a little inspiration on what your logo could look like. However, when it comes time to commit to a logo for your business, you’re going to want to make sure that design is 100% unique.Ignore General Kerning Rules
If you’re not well-versed in the world of fonts, you probably aren’t familiar with the term “kerning”. Kerning is the amount of space between letters and it is vitally important if you want to have a logo that is legible. When done right, you won’t even notice kerning in a logo. All you’ll notice is that there is a beautiful, legible logo right in front of you. On the flip side, you definitely know when a company did not use proper kerning in their logo. If the letters are too close together, the company name will probably be illegible. If the spacing is too small between words, the logo will be confusing and could even cause words to appear in your logo that weren’t there before. If you want your logo to have the right impact, pay attention to the kerning and you’ll already be a step ahead of your competition.Throw in a random shape or color
So your boss comes to you and says that he absolutely loves the Nike swoosh and wants to incorporate it in your new logo design, which also features a bulldog. While there are obviously plagiarism issues with using the Nike swoosh in any way, it helps illustrate an important point – don’t add swooshes, shapes or colors to your logo at random. Even if you love the way a shape looks, you can’t include everything in your logo and you shouldn’t try to fit shapes in where they don’t belong. For best results, keep your logo simple and try to avoid throwing in the kitchen sink (even if your boss is the one who wants to do it).How to Halloween Your Website
October is here my friends and that means that the official countdown to Halloween has begun! This next month will be filled with more Pumpkin Spice Lattes, apple cider and costumed children than you count. If you want to make the most out of this festive season, your website needs to show a little Halloween spirit. If you do it right, not only will it look great, but you’ll also have a happier, more loyal customer base. Here are a few ideas for how you can “Halloween your website”:
Halloween-ify your homepage
For most websites, the homepage is the place where most of your traffic lands. Why not create a unique experience for all that traffic and spruce up your homepage with a little Halloween décor. Just like we decorate our homes for the holidays, you can and should do the same with your website. Add a spooky graphic as the main image on your homepage, change out some of the fonts for a spooky style or just add a few spiderwebs or pumpkins – anything to show people that your business really knows how to embrace Halloween.Add a Halloween Countdown
Depending on what your business is, it could be fun to add a Halloween countdown somewhere on your site. There is even a site that has already coded some spooky banners for you: http://www.halloweencountdown.com/. All you have to do is plug the code into your website and you’ve instantly added a little Halloween fun into your website experience. Pro tip: Make sure you also tie the Halloween Countdown timer to a specific event or concept for your business for the best results. Have the countdown coincide with a contest or company announcement. The Halloween-themed banner will be a fun way to draw attention to your event.Run a Halloween Contest
Contests are a great way to get customers engaged in your business and the Halloween season provides a perfect backdrop for you to be able to run a really fun and interesting contest. Here are just a few ideas for Halloween contests that work well:- Halloween Costume Contest
- Online Halloween Scavenger Hunt
- Pumpkin or Apple Pie Contest
- Halloween Poster Design
- Spookiest House Decorations
Show Off Your Halloween Spirit
The holidays are a great time to showcase the personality of your business. Giving customers a view into what it’s like to work for your business is not only interesting, but it helps build up a loyal, supportive customer base. Why not go crazy and decorate your office with a Halloween theme. Have employees come to work in costume one day and post the pictures to your company blog or social media accounts. Even if you don’t have any employees and your business is literally a one-man show, you can still show off your Halloween spirit. Post a picture of your pet in costume or post some pictures of your favorite Halloween decorations. The important thing is that you are showing customers that you are engaged in the Halloween season.Make Your Blog Halloween Central
Assuming you have a blog for your business (and in this day and age, you really should have a blog for your business), take the opportunity to write some Halloween-themed content. A great way to do this is to take an idea for a normal blog post and add a Halloween slant. For instance, if you were going to write a blog posts on the best party snacks, why not turn that post into a “10 Best Snacks to Spookify your Halloween Party”. It’ll feel more relevant since it’s tied to the season and will likely catch a few more eyes. If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to add a little Halloween spirit to your website, check out our collection of Halloween Fonts. On sale now, the Halloween Font Collection has a fantastic array of spooky fonts and clipart that are perfect for sprucing up any website.6 Ways to Personalize Your Way to Success
This past summer, Coca-Cola did the unthinkable and it reversed an 11-year decline in soda sales. How? By getting personal. They launched the “Share a Coke” campaign in June 2014 and customers lined up to find a Coke bottle emblazoned with their name. Revolutionary? No. Impactful? Absolutely.
What the marketers at Coca-Cola latched onto was that customers want to feel a personal connection before they buy your product. They want to feel that the product that they are spending their hard-earned money on was made for them and that it will be exactly what they need. What customers bought into with the “Share a Coke” campaign was not just that it’s pretty cool to see your name on a Coke can, but that it felt like a product that was made for them.
Personalization isn’t a new concept, but what is new are the tools we have available to make each and every customer’s experience a uniquely personal one. If you run a business and aren’t doing any form of personalization, you are absolutely leaving money on the table. Here are 6 easy ways you can personalize your customer experience for a more successful business:
1. Use names in your email
This may seem overly simplistic, but using a customers name in either your email subject line or within the content can have a dramatic impact on whether or not someone ultimately makes a purchase. While most customers know that their name is inserted automatically by a machine, there is something kind of magical about seeing your name in an email subject that really catches the eye. Bottom line: If customers trust you enough to provide their name, use it to create a more personal experience through your email program.2. Personalize the email content
One sure-fire way to make sure that your email content gets read is to craft a personal message. You’ll need to have some basic data about your customers to do this, but segmenting your email list based on previous purchases or interests can have a dramatic effect on your sales. When you know what your customers have already bought, it’s much easier to know what makes sense to recommend for their next purchase. This may take some work if you can’t afford the tools that will help you automate the personalized email process, but every business can benefit from some level of email personalization.3. Create targeted landing pages on your website
Targeted landing pages are a great way to create a personal experience for specific customers and they offer the added benefit of helping boost your search engine results as well. In a nutshell, a targeted landing page is one that has been designed with a specific customer in mind. For example, if you have a landscaping business, you might want to think about creating pages on your website to address a variety of customers. For example:- Home Landscaping done right by A+ Landscapers
- How A+ Landscaping can help your apartment get more tenants
- Professional Commercial Landscaping with A+ Landscapers