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Business Card ABCs
Many people overlook the value of having a professional business card that accurately reflects your brand image…yet this small piece of paper can be an important part of your collateral package. It often is the first item prospects receive from you, so it your first opportunity to make a strong, positive impression on them. The preponderance of do-it-yourself online business card printing companies is an interesting and somewhat troubling phenomenon. With limited exceptions, it is fairly easy to spot an inexpensively produced card. When you choose to “go cheap” on your business cards, what message does that send to those with whom you wish to do business? Are you really doing yourself any favors by missing out on the opportunity to start building a positive brand image right from the start?

Top 5 Biz Card Blunders (& How to Avoid Them)
Perhaps nothing is more important to making a good first branding impression than your business card. In addition to the information on your card, its look and feel also send a message about your business– in fact, a card’s look and feel send a stronger message. That’s why I’m perplexed by the many poorly designed business cards I see these days. Sure, one can log on to various websites and “design” and print cards for free. But that doesn’t mean one should.
Brand Aid: The Basics of Branding
Branding is one of the most important aspects of any business, large or small, retail or B2B. An effective brand strategy gives you a major edge in increasingly competitive markets. But what exactly does “branding” mean? How does it affect a small business like yours?
Branding Trends: Delivery Channels Take Forefront
In looking at current branding trends, and what might be around the corner in 2007, what strikes me most are not the tactics being used, but the mediums being called on to disseminate the messages. Marketers can no longer rely on traditional outlets such as TV, radio and print ads to “get the job done”; they must take into consideration all the new media at their disposal, including blogs, podcasting, mobile phone-based programming, social networks, and RSS feeds.
You, Inc. What it Takes to Build a Personal Brand
It’s a brand new work-world. And I do mean “brand.” It used to be that only businesses worried about branding. To thrive, they worked diligently to distinguish their company from the competition. This meant carving out a niche based on competitive advantages and specific corporate attributes. In other words, they crafted and maintained a strategic brand – a unique, useful promise to current and prospective customers to gain brand equity and loyalty. This was business, after all.
Poor Credit But Still Need Business Finance? Are You a Homeowner? Consider a Charge Deal
This article discusses the other options available to you should your business need finance, but for whatever reason you don't have good credit, or you're a brand new start business and require a large sum of money for new assets. Typically known as a charge deal, the funder takes a second charge over your freehold property against the asset they are funding.
Matchmaking 101: Creating Sales Tools That Build Your Brand
If you’re like other entrepreneurs, you know a good logo is important to branding your company. You may already have a great logo. Now what? How can you create a variety of marketing materials that build your brand? In a word: Coordinate. All your materials should tie to one another graphically. They should convey the same look and feel, or image, and evoke a similar emotional response in your customer. When viewed side by side, your stationery, brochures, and other promotional materials should create a cohesive “family.” Of course, your materials don’t need to “match” each other completely, but some elements should remain consistent from one piece to the next:

Key Ways to Convey Quality
Let’s say that what differentiates your product or service from the competition’s is quality. It may seem like advertising “quality” would be a breeze, right? Unfortunately, it’s not. Customers hear the word “quality” all the time –often from companies selling low-quality products. In this sense, quality is like trust. If a salesperson resorts to “You can trust me,” it’s often an indicator to beware. Accordingly, if a company is too direct in how it advertises “quality,” customers may ignore the claim or be suspicious of it. So how can you prove that your product or service is the real deal? Following are some often-overlooked ways to convey quality.

5 Tips for Writing Quick-Read Copy
Click here. Buy now. Free trial offer. The world of advertising is full of short and snappy copy promising instant gratification. After all, most prospects simply don’t have time to read thoroughly. They skim. They glance. But if you’re betting they’ll wade through long paragraphs of narrative copy, it’s time to adjust your expectations. Your copywriting must be clear, compelling, and to the point. These days, the best copy is served a-la-carte, allowing readers to sample one message here, taste another message there. Which leads us to the most important rule in writing copy that sells: Make it “digestible.” Rely on headlines, subheads, captions, and bullet points – short snippets of copy with key nuggets of messaging. Long blocks of copy tend to overwhelm readers. They snooze, you lose.

Success Stories Boost Branding
Whether your business is local (like a home remodeler) or global (like an online specialty retailer), you can make a tremendous brand impression by telling stories-real-world stories illustrating how your business has benefited customers.

Global Branding Starts Here
Telling memorable stories about your customers’ real-world experiences can build your credibility, add moxie to your sales/marketing and luster to your brand. Stories are readily available to any business that has satisfied customers-and that means every viable business on the planet. You can adapt customer stories to a variety of business needs, for instance by tailoring their length and details to fit different venues and audiences.

Try This Team Building Outline!
How to build a team that strengthens your business offering through networking.
What to Do, What to Avoid: DIY Logo Design Checklist What Not to Do When Designing It Yourself
Have you ever noticed how many articles there are on creating your own marketing materials? These articles concentrate on things you “should do” – like “know your audience”, and “say it with pictures.” Now, I’m not saying that’s bad. That’s great. But you should also know what NOT to do. That’s what this article is about. Specifically, it’s about what most do-it-yourselfers are TEMPTED to do but shouldn’t.

Logo Design & Your Favicon: Spotlight Your Brand Online
By now, you’re probably familiar with the term “sticky website.” The phrase refers to a site that compels visitors to “stick around.” In order to entice visitors to stick around, however, your site must first project the image that you are a credible (i.e., large) company. If potential customers don’t have this comfort factor, they are likely to bounce before they even see what you offer. There are many aspects to developing a credible, “sticky” website, but one easy and valuable way is to create a “favicon.”
How To Discover The Social Media Fit!
Every week it seems there is another channel we can use to market our companies. Social Media for one appears to be leaping on to the stage at every opportunity. My inbox is constantly pushing out new sites to sign up to in the promise of delivering to us a new and exciting piece of business. I'm sure, like me, you wonder is it worth all the hype and will they get me any more notice than what I am experiencing with my current nest of sites.
Ask and Discover A Stronger Brand Inspiration
The next installment of my eInterview series is on it's way to this blog. The next interview is with PR guru Drew Gerber and his perspective on the value of your brand in relation to public relations. I am enjoying this effort. It's fun to have people I admire give me their thoughts on branding. What I find especially rewarding is the fact these individuals are so open and willing to share their thoughts with us.

Compliance smells like money.
Compliance is defined as "the act of complying to another one's wishes; acquiescense." In the case of businesses it is the government or a professional organization's wishes that are being adhered to. In most cases it is quite an expensive exercise, that is punctuated with regular audits and scrutiny. Processes are typically put into place that validates criteria and assures the complier that all is well with the company.
Branding Voodoo That'll Smoke The Competition
There are lots of ways that you can approach your brand to make it more effective. Some can be costly, while many are simple and relatively inexpensive. It is the latter that I will outline for you today. They don't take much thought or effort but can impact your brand in a big way.
Business Identity Secrets
A few years ago I owned a toy company. At the time, I heard an interesting philosophy on packaging: that you should design your toy’s package so artfully that when children opened it and touched your product, they were just a little disappointed. Maybe this sold more toys in the short run, but I can guarantee it didn’t in the long run. Because when perception trumps reality, your brand is the loser.
Niche Branding
It is a common misconception that if you’re not casting a wide net with your marketing, you’re leaving money on the table. Actually, the opposite is true. It’s more expensive and usually less profitable to sell a range of products to a wide audience. Furthermore, if your product or service is too similar to a competitor’s, price will always be an issue. When price is your only point of comparison, it’s tough to build a successful brand – especially if you are a small business. Targeting a niche market is a great way to avoid these issues. But how do you find the right niche?
More Mileage from Branding
Let’s say your online business-or your local business with an online presence-has some really strong customer stories. Where can you place these stories on the Internet to enhance your brand, boost credibility and support your sales and marketing? There are numerous online ways to use customer stories. You could try any or all of these:

Personal Branding Tips
A great deal of time and energy are expended to create memorable brands that add value to company marketing strategies and (in the case of public companies) pique the interest of the investment community. While company brand equity is certainly important, the significance of personal branding should not be overlooked as a key to success.
How To change Your Life To Create Success
Are you sick of your life, yourself, your job, your nagging boss. Do you feel unloved and you're living day by day without any direction? It's time to change your life and all it takes is a decision to do so. Don't rely on anyone else to do this for you, it's not up to anyone else and you must make the commitment from deep within your soul and be honest with yourself and truthful with yourself. change takes time and it's hard work but the fulfillment you will experience is worth it. Lets go...
Does Brand Imitation Work?
To Copy or Not to Copy, This is the Question.vWe all know that it’s tempting to copy the competition. There is safety in conformity – a certain “comfort factor” in being similar. After all, the other company knows what it’s doing, right? Not always.

What's Your Brand Image ROI?
If you’re like millions of other small businesses, creating a professional visual image is key to your success. After all, your image - as seen on your business cards, marketing materials, packaging and website - is the first and sometimes only chance you have to introduce your company to potential customers. If your customers like what they see, you’re one big step closer to getting their business.

Top 10 Franchises For Sale in 2009
Every year, Entrepreneur magazine names its top franchises for sale, gathered up into a list called the "Franchise 500." By referring to this list, prospective franchise owners can determine the top franchise for sale in any number of categories-the best fast-food franchise, the best auto service franchise, the best do-it-yourself picture framing franchise, and so on.

Entrepreneurs - Is The Business Opportunity Too Good To Be True?
Times are hard and you want to start you own business to make some extra money, or maybe expand your existing business. You’ve seen a great business opportunity but is it a scam?
What Type of Business Should I Start?
Many people struggle with what kind of business to start. There is no “one size fits all” business that can be recommended. Starting a new business is fraught with problems and complicated. You need to find a business that fits the following criteria:
Conclusions and Implications : Exploring entrepreneurship in a declining economy
The results indicate the presence of a fundamental set of reasons for business start-up under conditions of economic adversity, with strong emphasis on extrinsically aligned motivators.

Other start business Related Articles

Business Start-up - Don’t Make a False Start.
Business success, in many cases, is dependant on the start that the business gets. For this reason it is critical not to make a false start in a business start up and then suffer the consequences. Unfortunately many business owners do not have the right mind set when preparing to start a business and believe that a good idea and a small amount of research is all that is required to get a business off the ground.
Advantages and Disadvantages of a Start-up Business
What is a start-up business? A business is considered a start-up if an entrepreneur begins a business based on a unique idea and takes it all the way from the planning stage to actually running the business. The business is usually thought of as still in the start-up stage until it begins to produce sufficient revenue or sales to cover the cost of supplies and operating costs.
Work At Home Online Business Opportunities - Beginner's Guide
Are you raring to start a work at home online business but a little apprehensive and unsure of the actual start-up process? This article contains some basic guidelines to help beginners get off to a smooth start.
Some Inexpensive Business Ideas For The New Entrepreneur
So you want to start your own business – you are a new entrepreneur so to speak. Maybe you have just become unemployed and are trying to start a business from scratch or you’ve just got the yen to start a new business. In these recessionary times starting capital is going to be tight. So how do you start a new business without spending too much of your hard earned money?
Budding Entrepreneurs – Personal Assistant – A Low Cost Businesses To Start In A Recession
It’s a recession and you have lost your job or you just have that entrepreneurial spirit and want to start a business. You don’t have much money and in these awful times a business loan is out of the question, so what kind of business can you start? Well here are some business ideas that have very low start up costs, but have the potential to make you enough money to live off of.
Entrepreneurs – Want to Start A Car Cleaning Business?
In these recessionary times, many of us are seeking to start business with low start up costs. Car Cleaning is one of those businesses that has the potential to be very profitable but has low start up costs. So how do you go about starting such a business?
Small business administration
Small business administration is top of the list of important considerations for success in business. All businesses have a life cycle and depending on where you are in this cycle will depend on your focus at that time. The business cycle in this context is not the economic business cycle, but instead refers to the various stages a business goes through from "Start-up" and all the way through to "Selling-up" and getting out of your business. The stages in a business cycle Start-up stage of a business - at this stage in the life cycle of a business the considerations and planning needed fall into how to start a small business. A well prepared business plan will see your business get off to a great start and set it off in the right direction.
Small Business Owners - Seven Simple Steps to Get You Started As an Entrepreneur
Many of my Non-immigrant readers are getting excited to start their own business. Here are some questions I get asked. I am currently on pending adjustment of status and have a work permit. Can I start my business? What are the requirements? Can I start a business in my home country? Can my relative in my home country become my business partner? I want to start my business, but I don't know where to start. I can relate to my reader's feelings, as many of my clients have been there. First, I wish I had answer to all these questions, but I do not. However from my experience I can say that following step by step method has worked for my clients in establishing their business. It can be very challenging to make a decision with a mind confused with too many questions.

Keys to Successfully Starting a Web-Based Business
You have probably always wanted to start your own business. Perhaps you've had thoughts of how a business can be much better when you are shopping somewhere, reading about a company, or conducting business through a certain company. Now, with the help of the Internet, it is much easier to start a new business than it once was. It's so easy to start a business online, in fact, that you can have your business up and running in a matter of hours and make a sale in a few days. Of course that isn't the case for everyone, but it is a nice dream! If you are interested in starting your own online business, here are some helpful hints to guide you as you find your way.
Six Factors to Entrepreneurial Success
Most of the new jobs added to this economy over the last years have been from Start-ups. But business start-ups are risky. What can be done to enhance the success of these start-ups? Here are six factors found to be consistent among most successful start-ups.

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