Small Business Marketing Guide - DIY (do-it-yourself) BRAND MARKETING STRATEGIES to HELP YOU GROW YOUR BUSINESS

Your logo isn’t the most important thing about your business. But if you think it doesn’t matter, think again. A good logo communicates that you are a professional who pays attention to detail.

I’m not a professional designer, but I am a customer. I’m the person you’re trying to win over. And I’m going to do the thing that customers rarely do: I’m going to tell you how to make a good impression on me. A logo is just one of the many ways.

Let’s start with an example of a great logo we’re all familiar with: the Nike Swoosh.

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A blog can be a great tool for marketing your business and establishing yourself as an expert in your field. However, like anything you do to promote your business, it is important to make sure your blog is consistent with the brand you’ve built for your small business.

Here are some tips to keep in mind if you’ve decided to start a blog for your business:

1. Your domain is part of your brand: There are a lot of free blog-hosting options out there, such as Typepad, WordPress.com and Blogger. However, they tack their name on to your web address in exchange for the free hosting. So if you are Janey Smith, CPA and start a Blogger blog, your blog address becomes “janeysmithcpa.blogspot.com.” For just a few dollars a year, you can own your own domain — one that rolls off the tongue, sticks in the customer’s mind and looks great printed on a business card. Choose a domain you would still want when you have a loyal following and are interviewed by the Wall Street Journal.

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Lots of small business owners are intimidated by the thought of marketing their businesses. The buzzwords and flash associated with “marketing” often make embarking on a do-it-yourself marketing effort seem daunting. But don’t let that fear distract you from the goal of educating your customers and potential customers about your business.

In your day-to-day business, you focus on what your customers need and how you can provide them with that.  That is what your marketing should focus on, too. Too many marketing messages focus on the company rather than the customer. So as you craft your marketing strategy and materials, keep the customer top of mind.

Here are some great tips that will help you take that customer-driven attitude and translating it into marketing:

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Press releases are an essential marketing tool.  Media coverage is a great way to promote your brand for free. However, most small business owners are not experienced at communicating with the press. It’s not difficult to do, but it can be intimidating and confusing.

A press release is different from a press kit (see John Jantsch’s great tips on creating press kits and other marketing materials). You can think of a press kit as being about your business in general. They are a good way to make the media aware of your business and how you can be a resource for them as they write stories. While a press release is about a specific piece of news about your business and why they should cover it in their publication.

Here are 3 important press release tips:

1. Have a “newsworthy” story to tell:
It isn’t enough to simply tell a reporter “My business is interesting and you should write about it.” Reporters are looking for news. Even when they write a profile about a company, there is usually a “news angle” that makes now a particularly relevant time to feature a particular business.

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We’ve featured a lot of great advice on this site for developing your brand strategy. Here are some highlights to help you take advantage of the tips we’ve offered so far.

1. Choose a name with a good story behind it

John Battelle advises: “It’s often said that a brand is a ‘vessel waiting to be filled.’ In other words, you can call a new product or service anything, and after a while, if your product is successful, that brand will come to mean whatever experience it ends up delivering. While I generally agree with the thesis, I’ve found that having a great story is a very good way to jumpstart a new brand, and a great way to help sell it and keep defining it in the long term.”

You can read the full post here.

2. Clearly define what it is your company does

Guy Kawasaki says,  “… if you want to build a company that can take the heat, you need to define your business in not in terms of what you do  but what benefit you provide. Now ask yourself: What business is your company in?”

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