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Issue 1  ~  April 14, 2009


Greetings!

     Happy Tuesday! I hope this finds you, your family and your business again doing well and enjoying the time of the year.

     After a long winter it's great to finally have some warm weather, albeit a little rainy lately, but we'll take it! Mother Nature is putting her stamp on a new season with the trees that are starting to bud and the grass that is turning green.

     Just as Mother Nature is making her mark, so should we with a new season of successful sales! This week we will talk about "branding" our business - and ourselves - and how easy it can be.
 

"Brand" New Sales
Consistent Message Leads to Consistent Sales

Blue Target     Branding (braend-ing) -noun: 1) how you want a consumer to perceive you, your product or your service; 2) the sum total of a company's value, including products, services, people, advertising, positioning, and culture; 3) the use of logos, symbols, or product design to promote consumer awareness of goods and services.

     If you are in business or sales, odds are you know about or have at least heard about "branding." In short, it is the message that you send to your customers and prospects. I think definition #2 is the most complete, but I like to take it a step further by going beyond the marketing materials, ads and customer service. If you make a promise and then over-deliver, you're building your brand. When you arrive early, you're building your brand.

     Back to the imaging end of branding, many businesses think that a branding campaign is only for the "big" businesses that can afford flashy ad agencies. This does not have to be true. Simple steps can be taken that can make the smallest business be perceived as the "major player" that they really could be! Even better, it doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg to do it. Heck, it could cost as little as only a finger or two! (Maybe a bad analogy...but you get the point!)

Click here to continue reading and see how to make your mark...


Helping YOU!
Answering Reader Questions

     I'm not answering a question this week. Rather, I'd like to share with you something that recently happened and is totally confusing to me.

     Why do sales reps not show up for appointments? I recently worked with a client who initially called ten different people/companies to look at his project. I was the first to show up and the first to return with a solution and estimate. On my return trip, only two of the other nine had even called back and were "scheduled" to stop by later that day.

     This isn't the first time that I've experienced this. And if I had a nickel for every time I've heard a similar story, I swear I'd have close to $8.00! I guess when they say "half the job is just showing up," whoever they is really knows what they're talking about.

     The moral of this rant is that when opportunity knocks, answer the door. You never know when your competition might be asleep!


Do you have a question, challenge or opportunity that you'd like a little insight on? If so, e-mail it to workinghard@helpingusellu.com.
 
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What is Brand Advertising?
By Andrew Long

     Improving your overall recognition via brand advertising will create great awareness and help to build credibility with the right target audience.

     Another important factor is which media formats to use to do the job in a structured and effective way.

     Brand advertising is at the heart of any businesses success. It's all too easy as a business owner to make the mistake of thinking of your brand as a logo and a color scheme along with a slogan. To the consumer (Remember them They're the people who keep you in business), your brand is synonymous with your company. People build a relationship which can be very personal to your brand, not your company per se. The best brands build an emotional connection with consumers, leading to customer loyalty.

     Successful brand advertising is all about building this connection with the consumer, most importantly establishing your business or your product as something which is a known quantity to them something comforting which they can trust. You already know how great your product or service is; but that alone won't guarantee your success. You need to raise the profile of your brand in order to get the attention of consumers and begin building a relationship with them based on trust.

     While some media lend themselves more readily to brand advertising than others, a comprehensive campaign of branding or re-branding will typically be done across several different media. Print and television are usually the media of choice for brand advertising, including ads in publications, billboard and other advertising as well as 'captive audience' formats such as adverts on subways and buses.

     Television is also a visual medium and as such it can make a powerful brand impact on consumers when used effectively but regardless of the media chosen, simplicity is the best way to advertise your brand. A combination of print and television media brand advertising is generally a good media mix for a brand advertising campaign. Your other marketing efforts can build on your branding later, but when you need to establish a presence for your brand, keep it simple for the biggest impact.

      Radio spots and online advertising can also add to your brand advertising campaign; while they usually are not a suitable substitute for the more traditional print and television placements, they can be a valuable part of your branding efforts. Online advertising in particular is growing in popularity, with a growing number of businesses choosing to go where consumers are which is online in many cases. Online brand advertising incorporating banner ads, blogs and even video are becoming more common and they seem to be having an effect on the consumer; meaning that these online brand advertising venues are to be ignored at your peril as a business.

      Remember that brand and product advertising are two very different animals. However, to enable your business to grow and communicate effectively, you need to adopt a consistent theme and presence for both.

______________________________________________________________

Andrew Long is an advertising sales consultant and expert in the field of generating revenues from websites and other media. He offers media companies a bespoke solution to selling advertising and making money from their websites and other media. This article about Brand Advertising can be used on a website as long as this full resource box is added http://www.selling-advertising.com/Advertising-Revenue-Centre




Wrapping Up

     Well, I hope you picked up a few good ideas today and I look forward to being with you again next week. In the meantime, if you have a burning question, shoot me an e-mail and I'll shoot you a reply.

Helping You Sell You,
Scott Gillespie

Copyright (C) 2009 Selling U, LLC - All rights reserved.

Would you like to reproduce this document?
Please call us at 989.546.7355 for written permission by Scott Gillespie before doing so.
However, go ahead and forward this to as many people as you want!

Selling U, LLC ~ 9825 E. Broomfield Rd. ~ Mt. Pleasant, MI 48858



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Quote of the Week
   "If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves."

          ~ Thomas Edison