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I think \u201csafe\u201d and envision multiple layers of razor blades whizzing over whiskers.<\/div>\n
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And how about this one?\u00a0Google.<\/div>\n
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I feel reverence, respect and ALWAYS a twinge of fear that\u2019s directly related to how many orders I\u2019ve gotten that day.<\/div>\n
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Branding isn\u2019t just a snazzy logo, a clever tagline, attractive colors, a catchy jingle, or a compelling home page. \u00a0It\u2019s what you feel in your gut when you think about a company. Build a strong brand, and you\u2019ll never let your competitors define you.<\/div>\n
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3 Elements of a Great Brand<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Start with a distinctive name, visual identity and, most importantly, a solid reputation.\u00a0Don\u2019t like your name? You can change it within a few seconds.<\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/div>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.publicityhound.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Publicity-Hound-Logo-300x92.gif\" "\\"Publicity")
<\/a>Hate your logo? \u00a0Find a good designer on Elance.com<\/a>. My logo evolved with help from a graphic designer and clip art.<\/div>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2010\/08\/Publicity-Hound-Logo.gif\" "\\"Publicity"){kind=logo}
<\/a>Hate your logo? \u00a0Find a good designer on Elance.com<\/a>. My logo evolved with help from a graphic designer and clip art.<\/div>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/div>\n
But you can\u2019t buy reputation. You must earn it, and that takes time.<\/div>\n
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My company, The Publicity Hound<\/a>, sells content-rich special reports<\/a>, CDs and transcripts<\/a>, ebooks,<\/a>\u00a0and services that show people how to use traditional and social media to promote a product, service, cause or issue. The brand includes non-traditional elements you might not consider with branding, like an easy-to-find telephone number on every page of my website and a human being (me) who answers the phone.<\/div>\n
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A friend told me she heard at a conference that people who do business online\u00a0should make it difficult for their customers to have access to them \u201cbecause it makes people respect you more.\u201d \u00a0If that works for you, who am I to argue?<\/div>\n
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But when I talk to a stranger who calls me with a question, I can often close a sale. And I won\u2019t hesitate to ask, \u201cDo you want fries with that?\u201d I\u2019ve talked many callers into staying on the phone and buying an hour of consulting so I can REALLY help them.<\/div>\n
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Sometimes I can upsell them to The Publicity Hound Mentor Program<\/a>. Even if I sell nothing, I can start a relationship with them which is far more valuable than a string of retweets. \u00a0(Why do so many people,\u00a0by the way, \u00a0not answer their phones but think nothing of spending two hours a day on Twitter \u201cbuilding relationships\u201d?)<\/div>\n
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Other elements of my brand include:<\/div>\n
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- My customer service manager\u2019s name and telephone number everywhere. “If you need help, call Christine Buffaloe at 619-955-5772. Or me at 262-284-7451.”
\n\u00a0\u00a0 <\/li>\n - \u00a0My personal replies to emails, even if people need help and I don\u2019t know them. (They get a free tip, and often a link to a product I sell where they can find more.)
\n\u00a0\u00a0 <\/li>\n - \u00a0Little surprises sometimes tucked inside product packages, from gourmet dog treats to Publicity Hound notepads.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/li>\n - \u00a0Humorous dog videos, jokes and quotes I share in my ezine and on the social media sites, just to keep things fun.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/li>\n - A free special report or CD of the customer\u2019s choosing when we screw up and ship the wrong order.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/li>\n - My own vocabulary tied to The Publicity Hound theme. I call my followers my \u201cHounds\u201d with a capital H. \u00a0People who don\u2019t know the correct publicity techniques are \u201cmedia mutts.\u201d And when I do something dumb, I\u2019m “sent to the dog house without my dinner.\u201d That\u2019s called sub-branding, and I learned it from marketing strategist Tom Winninger. How do you know when it\u2019s working? When your customers start using the same words and phrases, and suggest others.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\u00a0 <\/strong><\/div>\nThing to Consider When Building Your Brand
\n\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/div>\nElements of your own brand might be very different from mine, depending on what you sell. \u00a0Some things to consider:<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nHow quickly do you respond when a customer complains?
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/div>\nHow do you behave in public and online? Do you use four-letter words on the social media sites that you\u2019d never use when meeting with consulting clients? Guest blogger Phyllis Zimbler Miller wrote<\/a>\u00a0about how everything you do online is part of your publicity<\/div>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/div>\nCan you add a prop to your official business photo\u2014something that ties into your brand?<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nHow often do you ask your customers what they think about your products and services?<\/div>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/div>\nWhat percentage of your social media tasks are spent sharing free tips vs. pushing free commercials?<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nHow do you differentiate yourself from your competitors? What\u2019s the one thing that\u2019s uniquely you?<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nCan you use mobile marketing to strengthen your brand?<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nCan a customer who arrives at your website or a social media profile understand, within 10 seconds, exactly how you can help them?<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nAre you the first in your niche to show people new and innovative ways to solve their problems? Or are you a Johnny-come-lately?<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nDo you promote your expertise in everything you do?<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nDo you understand how people feel when they see colors like bright red, sky blue or forest green? Are the colors at your website evoking the types of feelings you want your audience to experience when they arrive?<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nIf you sell high-priced products and services, does your website convey the look and feel of elegance and quality? \u00a0Do you charm your customers with five-star service?<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nDo you give your support staff the freedom to wow customers at every turn, even if it costs you a few bucks more?<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nWhat do you do when a customer complains about crappy service they received from a company whose products you promote as an affiliate? Are you as concerned as you\u2019d be if the products were yours?<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nIf you showed the name of your company to 10 strangers, how many of them would know immediately what you do?
\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nListen to Your Customers!<\/strong><\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nIf you\u2019re having trouble creating your brand, let your customers help.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nI wish I could take credit for creating The Publicity Hound brand all by myself. But I can\u2019t. My customers \u00a0pushed me into it.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nWhen I started my business 14 years ago, it was Media Relations Consulting, Inc.\u2014a name dull enough \u00a0to make your eyes glaze over. \u00a0My eight-page print newsletter followed a year later and it needed a name. \u00a0I worked for 22 years in the newspaper business, so \u201cThe Publicity Hound\u201d seemed perfect.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2010\/08\/Publicity-Hound-subscription-newsletter.jpg\" "\\"Publicity")
<\/a>The bi-monthly newsletter turned out to be the worst product I ever created because it never gained traction. It bled red ink and consumed my schedule. I kept it on life support far longer than I should have. But the good news is that people who saw the name loved it.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u201cThe Publicity Hound\u2014how clever!\u201d<\/div>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/div>\n\u201cWhat a great name!\u201d<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u201cWhen I couldn\u2019t remember your name, I could always remember The Publicity Hound.\u201d<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nI eventually killed off the print newsletter, and turned it into an ezine, \u201cThe Publicity Hound\u2019s Tips of the Week,\u201d <\/a>which quickly amassed 40,000 subscribers. It became the main marketing tool to sell my more than 100 info products. \u00a0I added a Hound Joke of the Week, which has been expanded to include dog quotes and videos. Readers send me my best material, and I thank them publicly in each issue.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nFinally, the light bulb went on.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nMedia Relations Consulting, Inc. became Media Relations Consulting, Inc. dba The Publicity Hound. If you\u2019re a corporation, \u201cdba\u201d is a convenient way to turn a boring name into an easy-to-remember brand.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nI started adding \u201cThe Publicity Hound\u201d to my name on bylined articles. When I comment at blogs, it\u2019s always as \u201cJoan Stewart, The Publicity Hound\u201d or just \u201cThe Publicity Hound.\u201d<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nToday, I\u2019ve dropped the stodgy company name from just about everything except my tax return and bank statement.
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\nLet a Survey Help You
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\n<\/strong>Early last year, I registered for a Stompernet teleseminar hosted by faculty member Don Crowther<\/a>. His guest was survey expert Jeanne Hurlbert, PhD, who discussed the value of customer profile surveys and how you can use them to create a roadmap for your business.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/div>\nI was so impressed that I hired her to create my own survey. Jeanne helped me pinpoint exactly what I wanted to learn and then created the questions.<\/div>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/div>\nThe survey results showed more than a 90 percent customer satisfaction rate (all those phone calls paid off!).<\/div>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/div>\nBut more importantly, it gave me 60 testimonials I could use at my website. It laid out in amazing detail exactly what kinds of products and services my customers wanted, and how much they\u2019d be willing to pay for them.<\/div>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/div>\nSurveys, done correctly, can help you develop your brand because you don\u2019t have to guess about what people think of you.
\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/div>\nJeanne, by the way, is my new business partner. My survey showed, among other things, that my customers were hungry for information on how to use social media to promote. And Jeanne has been studying social networks since before Facebook\u2019s Mark Zuckerberg was born.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nOur company, My Social Media Solution, LLC, dovetails perfectly with The Publicity Hound business.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nTips for Branding Your Business<\/strong><\/div>\n- \n
- Choose a theme, something obvious that can be associated with your signature product or business. \u00a0If your theme plays off the name of your cat, and your business has nothing to do with cats, go back and start over.
\n\u00a0\u00a0 <\/li>\n - \u00a0If you\u2019re having a difficult time thinking of a creative name for your business, don\u2019t force it. Instead, go for a walk, or take a swim or shower. Water and exercise invite creative ideas. \u201cThe Publicity Hound\u201d came to me during a six-mile walk.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/li>\n - When you hit on a successful brand and get great feedback from your market, spend the money to trademark your company name and logo.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/li>\n - Be consistent. Use the same photo, tagline, logo, colors, style and design in everything you do, from your website to printed materials.
\n\u00a0\u00a0 <\/li>\n - If you\u2019re not sure what your customers think of your brand, ask. Consider a customer profile survey.
\n\u00a0\u00a0 <\/li>\n - Listen to what your customers say about your brand. If they aren\u2019t saying anything, it\u2019s probably not a brand.
\n\u00a0\u00a0 <\/li>\n - Remember that reputation absolutely supersedes everything.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nAnd Bogie Makes Two
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\n<\/strong>In keeping with the dog theme, my German Short-Haired Pointer, Bogie, is joining me in my new business profile photo which will appear at my website. But I\u2019m not sure which of two photos I should choose for the homepage.<\/div>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/div>\nThrough my brand, I\u2019ve build a strong community of other Publicity Hounds who love being a part of my business. So I\u2019ll ask them.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nAnd you, too. Which of the two photos do you like? Bogie on my lap, or nose to wet nose? Let me know by stating your preference on this one-question survey<\/a>.\u00a0 Thanks for helping me continue to build my brand. Now, go build yours.<\/div>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/div>\n
- Choose a theme, something obvious that can be associated with your signature product or business. \u00a0If your theme plays off the name of your cat, and your business has nothing to do with cats, go back and start over.
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.publicityhound.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/NosetoNose23-199x300.jpg\" "\\"NosetoNose23\\"")
<\/a><\/td>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.publicityhound.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/BogieonLap-199x300.jpg\" "\\"BogieonLap\\"")
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