Home > Marketing and Sales
by BizSession
| Branding Yourself for Successful Marketing |
Jan. 20, 2006 |
Since the late 90's branding has been one of the hottest marketing concepts in the world - especially the online world. But how do you brand when you're and individual, and not a multi-million dollar organization? Naturally, you won't be buying a commercial spot during the next Super Bowl, but there are still ways for you to make a prospective client remember you after they've clicked through your website.
First, you need to keep in mind the fact that the majority of people who are your potential customers are seeking a person who can be trusted; so your goal is to make yourself trustworthy, and express that fact on your website and other marketing efforts.
Now that you've adopted that concept as the basis for your branding, here are some more worthwhile tactics that will help you to brand yourself as a trustworthy specialist in your niche market.
- Tell people about yourself - talk about what you do, and how you do it! Sure, all the marketing experts tell you to concentrate on benefits when you're writing your marketing material, and that's true, but don't forget to say what it is that you do, how you do it, and why you're an expert.
- Go above and beyond - if there's one thing that customers love, no matter who they are, it's free stuff. So take advantage of this, and give each and every one of your customers a bonus when they hire you. Remember, though, you want this freebie to be something that will make them remember you. Make your customer want to say "wow", and make it compliment what your customer has paid for.
- Take advantage of Joint Ventures - Share the love with other businesses that compliment your own. This way, you're not in direct competition with one another, and not losing clients to each other, but are instead able to refer clients who will require the other service along with yours. You'll endorse each others businesses in your newsletters, and you can even bundle their services with yours. Share catalogs, or do tele-seminars together.
Your creativity is the only limit to what branding techniques you can use and enjoy, and as you can see, it really has very little to do with the size of your bank account. In fact, so much of it is absolutely free - and you know how we all like freebies!
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