How to Inject Personality into Your Business – Without Going Overboard

Every business owner knows that the single most important aspect of running a successful business is having a good product or service that people want to buy.  But, that’s far from the only ingredient in the complex recipe for long-lasting success. You’ve got to make your business memorable somehow.  In standing out from the rest of the businesses in your field, you’ve got to do more than just serve up quality goods at competitive prices.  Injecting some personality into your business will help customers remember who you are, leading them to come to you more often.

Many startups and small businesses make the mistake of hiding behind a corporate façade in order to come across as more professional.  Folks, looking professional is one thing – turning into a bland, boring, smaller version of a big-box business isn’t going to get you anywhere.  You’ll appear cold, stiff and forgettable.  You’ve got to stand out from the crowd – in a good way.

The first thing you should consider is: who are you? What makes your business special? Perhaps it’s your value system – the fact that you’re personally dedicated to making sure every single customer has the most positive experience possible, or that you take the time to treat everyone like an individual person, not a number.  Maybe there’s something special (and relevant) about your background or previous experience, something that makes you an expert in your field.  But even if you can’t define a specific trait that could help give your business ‘personality’, just making it clear that you’re real people will go far in giving your business a memorable face.

That’s where you’ve got a leg up on most big corporations doing business in your field.  They can’t mock your small business sense of ‘real people’.  Very few get away with it when they try – Wendy’s is one example, though they did take a strange side-step into weird, pointless ads for a while there.  So, if you’re still a family-run company with only a handful of employees, run with it.  The general public tends to associate better, more personal service with companies that project that ‘I’m a real person’ aura.

Here’s the thing, though: don’t take it in a cheesy direction.  You really don’t need cartoon characters or campy over-the-top ads.  Don’t confuse loud, brash attempts at forcing people to pay attention to you with showing personality. There’s also no need to plaster your photo all over everything.  An example of an effective, classy, understated yet memorable projection of personality – by a corporation, no less – is the Dyson vacuum commercials featuring inventor James Dyson, who talks a bit about his passion for developing an efficient bagless vacuum cleaner.

So, how do you go about projecting your new-found sense of identity? First, make sure your marketing materials read like a real person wrote them, not like the flat droning of a faceless corporation.  That doesn’t mean including grammar or spelling mistakes – it just means being casual and conversational.

You should also have a ‘company profile’ or ‘about us’ page on your website that has photos, a personal message and some information about your background.  People want to know who runs the company they’re giving their hard-earned money to. This is something you can also incorporate into your blog – show the photos and names of the people writing the posts, and include a short bio for each.

Finally, use the power of the internet.  Video and social networking are extremely valuable tools that can help you brand your identity into people’s minds. You can create videos that demonstrate or discuss your product or service, give a behind-the-scenes look at your company or delve into issues relevant to your industry.  Stay tuned to Biz Ninjas for more tips on using video and social networking to your advantage!

Photo via TIME Magazine

Print Marketing: What’s Essential and What to Skip

There’s no doubt that the business world is increasingly web-based.  Companies are more wired than ever, with web sites, search marketing, social networking and other electronic means of getting their name out there.  That’s great – the web is full of opportunities and potential – but that doesn’t mean you’ll never need paper again.  Far from it.  While you may want to cut back on business-related paper items, whether to be more eco-friendly or to save money and space, some items are indispensable.

Rhonda Abrams of USA Today names the following items as essentials:

• Business cards
• Brochures
• Price lists
• Catalogs
• Sales sheets
• Flyers/postcards

The reasoning behind this is simple: you still need face-to-face marketing, and for people to remember your product or service, you need to leave them with something tangible. Printed materials make you look prepared, knowledgeable and professional and ensure that prospects have all of the important details as well as relevant visuals. Nicely done printed materials that include your logo also function as your brand identity system, helping to solidify your company’s presence in the market.

On that note, what are the items you can skip? Print companies will push a lot of add-ons when you place an order, mostly consisting of the sort of stuff that people throw away – calendars, stationary, holiday cards and the like. For most companies, this kind of stuff is a waste of money.  Concentrate on the important items above and you’ll get the biggest bang for your marketing buck.

If you’re a small business and only need a limited number of printed items, you can get away with printing some of it in-house (provided you have a good quality printer).  If you’re going to do this, however, stick to price lists, sales sheets and flyers – it’s unlikely your business cards or brochures will come out looking professional enough.

There are plenty of inexpensive places to get business materials printed up if you’re on a limited budget and can’t afford to work with a local printer.  Check out VistaPrint.com, 123print.com and PsPrint.com, all of which offer good quality for low prices (just watch out for those add-ons!).

Photo credit: Flickr user rahim

Establishing Your Identity: 8 Branding Tips for Small Businesses

It’s absolutely crucial that your customers know who you are and what you do. It sounds elementary, but many businesses forget that making a strong impression on the minds of the public is a major component of success. You don’t have to be a huge corporation to use ‘branding’ to your advantage – small businesses can get in on the game, too, with simple tips that will help you stand out against the crowd.

Have a website, even if you’re an offline business. In today’s technology-oriented world, potential customers are going to be searching online for information about all kinds of different products and services, and they’ll often choose the business that has the most information available online. Your website should be professional, reflect your brand image, have an ‘about us’ page (see above), include basic information about your products or services and testimonials, if applicable.

Your logo is important, but don’t sweat it too much. Yes, your logo will be on all of your marketing materials, from your website and blog to your business cards and letterhead. It should definitely be well designed by a professional, and fit who you are and what you do. However, it’s not the end-all be-all of branding and it will rarely act to increase sales. The most important thing is making sure it ends up on every piece of your communication, to help establish your brand identity. Consistency is key.

Have a one-page ‘about us’ overview written. Have a professional writer do this for you – it won’t take too terribly long, and it’s one of the most important pieces of copy you’ll have on any of your promotional materials. Your ‘about us’ page can either be a casual, conversational piece highlighting your company background, mission statement and how you plan to grow in the future or a ‘corporate overview’ detailing your value proposition, target audience benefits and experience. It can be used on your website and as part of your press kit, and snippets of it can be used for brochures.

Put a human face on your marketing materials. The online world can be a cold, impersonal place where one business blends into the other. Putting a human face on your company can help make you more memorable. Your name, photo and a brief personal message (most often put on the ‘about us’ page of your website) helps give visitors a sense of the human element behind the mechanical façade, which engenders trust.

Start a blog. Writing consistent, frequent posts that contain information relevant to your industry can position you as a leader in your field, get your website more traffic and build an audience. If you’ve never done it before, don’t worry, it’s really quite easy when you get the hang of it. Publishing software allows you to simply type in your content and hit ‘publish’, so you don’t have to deal with design, code or other elements of web development.

Use social media marketing to your advantage. Social media creates a sense of intimacy, making your online contacts feel as if they know you personally. This, in turn, creates brand loyalty as well as getting your company more exposure on the web. Learn how to use social media effectively in our previous post, ‘Marketing with No Money: Using Social Media to Grow Your Offline Business’.

Stick to what you do best. Sometimes companies embark on misguided attempts to grow their brand through ‘diversifying’, and we’re not saying that that’s always a bad idea. However, when a website that sells water fountains suddenly starts selling children’s furniture and pot racks as well, the brand gets diluted. People don’t know who you are and what you’re trying to do anymore, and chances are, you don’t either. Branching out is okay, but you may want to consider doing it under a different business name.

Listen to your customers. Nothing sinks a business faster than failing to consider the needs of the people who matter most: the ones who buy your product or service. They’ll provide the best cues as to your strengths and weaknesses, and knowing exactly what your customers want can give you a competitive advantage. Ask for feedback, and listen closely to what they have to say.