If this survey is correct then your small business could be in jeopardy.

In addition, PayPoint found that among 1000 consumers, just 3 percent of online shoppers are likely to trust a small online business with their money, preferring to shop with larger online brands. A further 81 percent say they have doubt about the security credentials of small, unknown companies.

In order to be taken seriously by your prospect customers, you’ve got to convince them that they can trust you. How do you do that? One way is to make it appear as if you are larger than you are. It is difficult to succeed online if you look like a small business.

Keep in mind that this is true of online-only businesses. If you are a local business with an internet presence and you are targeting local consumers to drive them to your brick-and-mortar store then your strategy will be slightly different. But if you are an online-only business and you are targeting consumers globally, it makes sense to spend time branding your company and appearing larger. How do you do that?

Here are some ways you can make yourself look bigger than you are:

• Make your URL a keyword-targeted brand
• Have a customer service number where people can call you and answer the phone in a professional manner using your business name and personal name with a “How may I help you” greeting
• Include an online chat feature
• Go to great pains to ensure your customers that you provide security for their private information

People like doing business with people so keep it personal. But they want the security of doing business with a large company so be professional. There is still some skepticism about doing business online. Alleviate people’s fears as much as possible.

Today’s post is a great example of two things that I talk about often:

1. An example of where to find ideas for your blog posts
2. Why it’s crucial that you know what makes your business unique

Where to find blog post ideas
Whenever I talk about blogging, invariably people will ask me, “where do you get the ideas for things to blog about?” One of my favorite ways is by reading articles, newspapers, books - anything basically - that pertain to my blog’s topic and then using content I find within those sources within my blogs. It’s not real often that I read an actual print newspaper (it’s usually online), but I was waiting for an appointment last week and I happened to pick up the Variety section of my local paper. Usually I don’t get blog ideas from the cartoon section of the paper, but today’s post shows that good blog ideas can come from just about anywhere!

Why it’s crucial that you know what makes your business unique

With full credit to Stephan Pastis and his Pearls Before Swine cartoon, I had to share this with you. It makes a great case for understanding what sets your business apart from your competitors - what makes it unique and different. If there are a dozen travel agencies in your town, and you plan to open another one, then you’d better offer something unique and different that those other 12 companies don’t offer - or, offer a similar service in a unique and different way.

Research shows that over 65% of all businesses cannot articulate their unique, competitive point(s) of differentiation. I know from my own experience working with my clients that this is one of the areas they struggle with the most — think of the opportunity you have as a business to set yourself apart from your competitors, just by figuring out how to state what makes you different ! Just by doing that, you will be ahead of 65% of your competitors - especially online where you have just 8 seconds to capture your prospect’s attention when they land on your website and convince them you have what they are looking for.

Branding … cowboys do it. Mavericks do it, too. Why shouldn’t you?

Walt Goshert at The Marketing Caddy recently made a great blog post on this subject. While much of his post repeated and quoted from a post at the Small Business Mavericks blog, it just goes to show that if something is done right then more than one person will agree that it’s the best way to do it. That’s why I’d like to send some link love Walt’s way - to let him know that his thoughts on branding and my thoughts on branding are like bucket seats in a sports car.

Walt reminds his readers to spend some time thinking about their USP (Unique Selling Proposition) before starting off on their branding adventure. I’d have to agree with that. You’ve got to think about what makes you different. What sets you apart from the competition? If you don’t know that then you will likely not be able to convince your customers that you can help them. Simply saying “Great Customer Service” isn’t going to cut it. You’ve got to think of something that is going to convince people that you are unique and the best person for their needs. Then you should put that USP into your tagline, which was my first suggestion on creating an effective brand.

Branding is one of the most important parts of doing business - online and off line. Great minds like Walt Goshert’s understand that. And that’s why it’s necessary to repeat it.

Branding your small business is a vital process, yet many small business owners have no idea of how to go about it. Really, branding is the process of creating a business that will be recognized as THE place to go for the services and products that you provide. There are many ways to go about branding your small business, but some methods are more obvious and effective than others.

1. Participate in events. Every community has events, fairs, block parties, etc. Make sure you get in on everything that you can and display your logo proudly. You might want to donate tents or chairs with your logo for use at an event, or hand out freebies with your business info on them. Everything helps!
2. Set up a website. Whether you like it or not, these days it´s necessary to have a website for your business. Make sure that you keep the information on it up to date and that you add new content from time to time. Your website should be done in your business colors for continuity.
3. Make all contact high quality. Just talking to people has a huge impact on your brand and is something that you should really focus on. Being friendly and helpful will help you grow your business and if you have any employees, this should be conveyed to them as well.

Branding for your small business needs to be an ongoing project. Be friendly to everyone you meet, maintain a consistent front and you will find that your brand improves constantly.

There´s really no reason why branding can´t be an exercise in fun. Most business related tasks are quite dull, but you´ll find that you have far more success if you take things a little less seriously. Not only will you be more interested in doing the work, so will your employees and your clients will benefit.

• Use fun branding items. Instead of typical pens, get banana shaped ones or pens made from twigs, with your business name woodburned on the side.

• Have a party. Everyone loves a party. Whether it´s your grand opening or anniversary or just a day you decide to celebrate, make it fun and invite everyone!

• Offer a fun way to reward your customers. Punch out cards are a great way to give something back to your loyal customers. When the card is full, they get a freebie.

Have fun with your branding. There is really nothing better for drawing attention than a great time!

Branding is a vital part of growing your business. Without it, you´ll just be another small business, eking out a living. So, you´ll want to establish a brand, but how do you go about doing that? It´s something that often confuses even the best entrepreneurs, so I´ve put together a few tips here.

Branding Tips

• Stay consistent. Once you decide on a logo and company colors, use them everywhere. Switching between logos or colors will confuse potential clients and water down your brand.

• Promote your brand. There´s not really much point in setting up a brand if no one will know about it. So, once you´ve got a brand, make sure you promote it.

• Make it good. You want a really great brand, not an iffy one. If you aren´t sure, hold off until you know exactly what you want, otherwise, you´ll have to change it at a later date, or go through life with a brand you aren´t proud of.

Branding can really help establish your business as the place to go for your particular product or service. It´s a good idea to do it right in order to ensure success.

Branding is a vital part of small business, but an area that is too often overlooked. One very easy way to enhance your branding is to offer a newsletter, either in paper format or by email, to your clients and potential customers. They can sign up for it either at your brick and mortar location or online.

Newsletters aren´t only good for branding, they also offer a connection with potential business contacts. You can make sure that they don´t forget you by sending out a newsletter at least once a month with the newest updates, special subscriber discounts and all manner of information about your business. This can really boost the number of times your clients see your logo and business name, which helps increase branding, as well.

Your logo should be on every single email or paper newsletter that you send out. This will greatly help with branding your business. Also, decide what your mission statement is and stick to its basics as you write your newsletters. While your newsletters can be on assorted topics, they should always be portraying the characteristics you wish to present for your business.

Branding via newsletters can be a great way to go because newsletters are often passed on to friends when they contain useful information. Make sure that you remind your readers that they can go ahead and pass your newsletters on and encourage new readers to sign up for their very own copy. This all helps improve your business branding.

Branding, while important, can also be very easy to mess up. If you aren´t careful, you´ll be branding the wrong image . . . which is often easier than getting the right one across. A major branding mistake is trying to do everything for everyone and make everyone happy . . . not usually a great idea.

The whole too-good-to-be true marketing campaign can make people wary, so you really need to be careful. A company that specializes in just one or two areas is often far better than a broad one that offers to do everything. They may do everything, but none of it will get done well. Shoestring Branding had this to say on the topic:

Many small businesses make the mistake of trying to be all things to all people. Conventional wisdom tells us that if we limit our options or specialize we will lose business. How many times have you heard: ‘Oh, we do it all! We can design your website, print your brochures, handle your PR, print your business cards and optimize your site for the search engines, whatever. You name it, we do it!’

Bad. Being all things to all people is lousy branding and it doesn’t work.

Focusing on just one or two specializations can really help your business grow and is an excellent method of branding. Just think of where you go for specific items. When you need pets, for example? Do you hit the big multi-purpose store, or do you head to the pet store? Specialty shops are popular for a reason, they are good at what they do!

Speaking of branding, I came across a great post by Rob Marsh today where he does a great job illustrating how every decision you make in your business affects your brand:

Always remember you are constantly building your brand, whether you do it consciously or not. The decision to hire (or not) a customer service person with bad grammar is more than a service decision, it’s a branding decision. Choosing to raise or lower prices isn’t just a question about margins, but about branding. How you keep your store, how you treat your customers, the products and services you offer—these are both business and branding decisions. You are always building your brand.

It’s easy to get into the habit of thinking of branding in terms of the marketing materials you produce; as Rob points out so well, branding is the sum total of everything you do in your business.

Caroline
Back to Blue Chip Marketing Tips Blog
Melberg Marketing

Branding is a great way to boost your visibility, but what about when you are just getting started? A brand new business often struggles with balancing branding and marketing . . . it can be difficult to figure out which is more important, though they do tend to go hand in hand. Here are a few ideas to get your new business off the ground in the branding department.

• Grand Opening: This is the ideal opportunity to establish your brand with a bang! Use your company colors and fonts on everything, from balloons to streamers and banners.

• Freebies: Giving out small, useful freebies like keychains, pens or anything else that can be branded will get your business name and logo out and about. Be sure to use your company logo on the freebies.

• Business Cards: Don´t underestimate the effectiveness of your business cards, give them out to everyone you meet. Also, leave them anywhere you can, restaurants, community bulletin boards, doctor´s offices, etc.

• Cars: Having your logo painted right onto your car or on a window sticker can be a good way to go about branding your business by simply driving around town! People will notice your car and over time, the logo will get stuck in their heads.

Obviously, all these branding methods could also be used with established businesses, too (with the exception of the Grand Opening!), but they are particularly effective for those small businesses that are just getting off the ground. You want to establish a brand quickly, to be sure that people come to you instead of the competition.