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In this issue:
• Marketing Article: How to tell it’s time to update your brand identity
• Marketing Article: Are You Utilizing Push/Pull Marketing?

How to tell it’s time to update your brand identity
by Winnie Anderson © 2007

A new season signals certain styles are in and others are out so we change our appearance. Many songbirds molt and change color with the seasons. Mickey Mouse – that icon from our childhood – looks different now than he did when he first appeared on the scene in 1928. You may be missing the signals that it’s time for your business to update its look.

Here are 3 circumstances that indicate it’s time for you to update your identity.

You’re part of a merger. Without going into the many issues around mergers, if you have a new company you have a new identity whether you want to admit it or not. One company doesn’t swallow another and the other company disappears. The concept of a merger is that you blend together the two organizations (easier said than done of course but that’s another issue). Therefore just slapping the buyer’s logo on the bought company’s stuff doesn’t cut it. That action is just a very visible reminder to the employees of the bought company that their company has been taken over.

There’s no way to tell you apart from your competition. If your offering has become a commodity and data tells you your customers are having a difficult time seeing what makes Brand A different from Brand B, it’s time to help them out by visually differentiating yourself better. If you’ve ever stood in the grocery store unable to choose between two brands of rice you can relate to the feeling your customer may be facing. We’re very visual creatures and we make a lot of value judgments based on the visual images we see. Rationally you know that a torn label doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with the product inside but you still reach for the can with the intact label every time, don’t you?

The customers you attract aren’t the customers you want to serve. If your sales staff is well trained and you’re confident they’re doing good work, but the bulk of your customers are complainers who drain your organization, perhaps you’re attracting the wrong customers. Most consumers, and even businesses, are price sensitive to a degree, but if price is the prime motivator of your customers you are headed into a dangerous place. Your existing identity may be working against you by attracting people who are price driven rather than those who are value driven.

Your brand’s visual identity must work effectively with your verbal messaging to clearly communicate your position in the market and attract the customers who most want to do business with you and who will be happiest with what you provide.

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Abiah, LLC is a brand strategy and full-service marketing firm whose solutions make a bottom-line difference for clients. Visit http://www.abiah.com/brand_test/index.php to take our brand test and see how your brand stacks up. Join the conversation about brands and marketing at www.brandreturn.com.

Are You Utilizing Push/Pull Marketing?
by Kathleen Gage © 2007

An important aspect of marketing has to do with what is referred to as Push/Pull marketing. Push/Pull marketing is exactly as it sounds. At times you are “pushing” information out to your market and at other times you are implementing strategies to “pull” consumers to you.

Regardless of whether you are selling someone else’s products and services or your own, if you do not implement a complete marketing strategy that includes the Push/Pull philosophy, you are likely defeating your purpose.

To create a steady stream of revenue for products and services you offer you have to have a very targeted approach. Not only will a systemized marketing approach help you make money directly from your online offerings, you can definitely enhance your offline offerings as well as live presentations, consulting, and coaching.

Keep in mind, there is a process people go through in order to buy your products and services. It is built on need, want and desire. Additionally, the greater the investment on the part of the consumer the more you must build confidence, trust and credibility in the consumer’s mind.

If all you are doing is selling $10 widgets that is one thing. If, on the other hand, you are seeking to build long-term relationships with your market and be viewed as a professional, you must approach things in a systematic way.

The fact is, my clients want to do far more than sell a widget. They want to make a difference in the lives of their clients. They want to provide long-term solutions and create ongoing relationships with their clients. They want to build their business based on trust, value and integrity. To achieve these results requires they implement effective systems.

Realize that no matter how great your product or service, most people will not buy a high-ticket eProduct or a $1,000 plus mentoring course or consulting contract without first buying a $20 - $50 eProduct. There is what is referred to as the funnel approach to marketing. Clients will enter your “funnel” by way of something that is very low risk such as a free item or very inexpensive item. Based on their experience they will decide what the next course of action is.

What you do every step of the way, including someone’s initial introduction to you and your way of doing business, will determine how likely it is that someone will become a loyal customer. Never discount the power of a free offering or a low-ticket item to be the catalyst to someone becoming a premier client.

To introduce consumers to your and your product offerings as well as get people to the point they will even consider the $20 item you will find the Push/Pull marketing process is second to none.

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The higher the price of your products and services the more you absolutely must use the Push/Pull strategies.
Kathleen Gage is an Internet Marketing Advisor for Speakers, Trainers, Authors, Consultants and Entrepreneurs. Access her eBook The Truth about Making Money on the Internet at http://www.streetsmartsmarketing.com/free-ebook.htm