•Brand Equity - Worth Safeguarding
Brand Equity - Worth Safeguarding by Marcia YudkinThe state government of Vermont has taken aggressive steps to safeguard the state's brand equity. That's the monetary premium attaching to tourism or products linked (honestly or not) to this bucolic home of around 500,000 souls.Does your company have brand equity? If so, people place more trust in your quality and a higher value on your offerings than on a no-name competitor's. If so, the cachet of your brand envelops any new venture you...
•Business Names Can Bring Good Fortune
Judging only from the name, which company comes across as more crisply efficient, Order Out of Chaos or Ockahochee Organizers, Inc.?
Which business seems more innovative, Kabloom or Finest Flowers?
Which consulting firm seems more dependable, RP&G Consulting Partners or Skyhunters Consulting?
A company name can influence perceptions - attracting or repelling not only customers but also media people and joint venture partners. It does so through these and other factors:
* the style of...
•Business Names Do Matter, Norm Brodsky
In the November 2005 issue of Inc. magazine, Norm Brodsky wrote: "Your company's name plays little, if any, role in determining your success."
I agree completely that a company with a bad or mediocre name can reach success. However, here are 10 reasons why coming up with a snappy, interesting and memorable name is worth the business owner's or organization's time and energy.
1. When you call or speak with strangers and mention the name of your company, and the name in and of itself...
•Catering to Beginners, Enthusiasts and Geeks
Catering to Beginners, Enthusiasts and Geeks by Marcia YudkinRecently I had occasion to review several dozen Web sites in oneindustry -- camera stores. I found this eye-opening, as an unfortunatepattern emerged that I believe holds true not only on the Internet but also inpaper-based marketing materials, and applies to many professions. First,some background.Most of us, particularly those who regularly deal with a wide swath of thepublic, know how to adjust our conversation according to the...
•Clone Your Best Customers
Clone Your Best Customers by Marcia YudkinTwo businesses -- a women's clothing boutique and a mail-order operation --recently consulted me about the same dilemma. Each had achieved satisfyingsales through channels that didn't allow for further growth. They needed afresh marketing program that would yield a steady stream of new customers,and they were confused about where and how to advertise.Like Dorothy with the ruby slippers in the Wizard of Oz, they already hadmost of what they needed for...
•Company Identity Goes Far Deeper Than A Logo
Graphic designers frequently play a prominent role in launching or repositioning a company. When they create a look (or new look) for a company's stationery, brochure, ads and web site, this often goes by the name of an "identity package." Don't let this convenient term mislead you into believing that a company's identity consists of merely the logo and look. No, every company has an identity or image in the minds of its customers comprised of at least nine other factors besides the graphic...
•Creating a Reputation
Creating a Reputation by Marcia YudkinWant to shorten the sales cycle for your professional services? Want pre-sold prospects who need fewer or no face-to-face meetings before hiring you? Create a reputation. Recently a room full of consultants agreed that you had to meet with potential clients at least twice -- better, three times -- before winning the business. "Then how do you get business outside the area?" someone asked. The consensus: Forget it.Yet I've been hired by companies in...
•Exploit Your Brand To The Fullest
A brand goes beyond a company name and tagline. It is a complete personality or set of values, sometimes even a story line, along with repeated visual, auditory and behavioral elements. When you decide to invest in creating a brand, follow these guidelines to ensure that you get your money's worth:
1. Be distinctive. You'll land your company in expensive legal hot water if you attempt to steal or encroach on another company's identity. Apart from legalities, you tend to get the most bang for...
•For Business Names And Tag Lines, Popularity Shouldn't Rule
Don't turn your search for the perfect name or tag line into a popularity contest! Two instances of this have crossed my path recently.
First, someone I know asked people to vote on the best title for a forthcoming book. That's unwise, because what people say they like in a book title:
* Doesn't necessarily distinguish the book from others * Isn't necessarily clear, spellable and free of negative connotations * Doesn't mean those who are the best audience for the book will "get it" *...
•Giveaways That Gratify You, Too
Giveaways That Gratify You, Too by Marcia Yudkin"Yours free!" It's a rare head that doesn't turn at that news. By offering freebies that zero in on the interests and desires of your target market, you can take advantage of this powerful psychological appeal to grow your business. And by choosing giveaways with news value for your audience, you can easily enlist the aid of the media in spreading the word about your offering to prospective customers. Here's how.Great giveaway strategy begins...
•How to Successfully Pitch a Reporter to Get Interviewed and Obtain Media Coverage
When I was up against a book deadline and needed a couple of people to interview who had achieved business results from podcasting, I put out a call through a service called Help a Reporter Out (www.helpareporter.com). This free service functions very much like paid reporter lead services such as Profnet or Travel Publicity Leads. Generally media people put out such calls either when they need interview leads extremely soon (like a deadline in two days) or when they have rather unusual...
•In Business Naming, Sometimes Simpler Is Better
When Susan Friedmann went out on her own, she christened her new company Diadem Communications. "Diadem means crown - a fitting name for what I felt was a crowning achievement," she recalls.
Unfortunately, however, the name meant nothing to potential customers. Most were unfamiliar with the word diadem and did not ask what it meant. Many didn't know how to pronounce it. More importantly, it did not clue them in on Susan's specialty - helping companies get results from exhibiting at...
•Interviewing An Expert For A Teleseminar? Avoid These Six Mistakes
Recording an interviewing an expert on a topic that has value for a group of listeners is one of the quickest and easiest ways to create a saleable product. This sort of teleseminar can also help drum up interest in an upcoming event as a free preview call.
However, as someone who has been interviewed or interviewed others dozens of times and listened to scores more expert interviews, I’ve observed several pitfalls that can affect the quality of the product.
To end up with a recording people...
•Jargon: Handle with Care
Jargon: Handle with Care by Marcia YudkinWhen I reviewed business Web sites for the Webby Awards earlier this year,one of the most common and annoying obstacles I ran across was jargon -insider language that got in the way of understanding what the businessbehind the site actually did for its clients. The same barrier detractsfrom the effectiveness of many press releases.Troublesome jargon comes in at least three varieties: buzzwords, or trendyphrases used by people who consider themselves...
•Merchandising on the Web and Off
Merchandising on the Web and Off by Marcia YudkinNow that I have several new products coming out in succession, I've beenthinking a lot about how best to feature them at my Web site. My thoughtshave turned to how supermarkets and department stores highlight certainproducts, and I've found useful analogies between catching the attention ofa customer wheeling a cart up and down the aisles and a shopper on the Web.Here are some merchandising techniques you'll find in bricks-and- mortarsstores...
•Naming Your Local Business
Pothole Pictures: Normally this name wouldn't create a positive image for a movie theater. But in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, where glacial potholes in the Deerfield River running through the village are a cherished part of the landscape, the name works well.
When naming a business whose geographical reach and clientele are mainly local, you can use nicknames, regional or city lore, local in-jokes and historical references that might be lost on outsiders. Subliminally, these kinds of...
•New Business Names: Naming For The Ear
It's surely happened to you, too: You call someone back from a telephone message, not sure who they are or what they want, and what the receptionist recites upon answering comes off as a complete blur. It doesn't even separate into words.
In many cases this has nothing to do with the diction of the receptionist. Out of context, the company name simply makes no sense to the ear.
Years ago I had an extreme version of this experience when a gardening columnist I was interviewing said something...
•New Product? Give It Nine Lives
New Product? Give It Nine Lives by Marcia YudkinThe closeness between the words "new" and "news" provides a telling clue to how easy it can be to get media coverage for something that's new. By definition, the media are in the business of covering what's fresh, what's unprecedented and what has just happened. Follow a few simple steps and publicity can make your product launch a significant success.First, carefully and honestly define specific markets for your product. Media that target...
•Optimizing a Press Release for Search Engines
Optimizing a Press Release for Search Engines by Marcia YudkinSearch engines increasingly charge for inclusion, and press release distribution networks charge hundreds of dollars to distribute your news. But I’ve come up with a way to legitimately let other people shoulder the time or effort for your news to show up in search engines. The lightbulb went off for me when I was searching for very specialized software and came upon a press release for such a product posted at another site, not...
•Preview Teleseminars: Avoid These Off-Putting Mistakes
When you have a new product or an upcoming event, a free preview teleseminar can do a great job of drumming up excitement about it. In one scenario, you announce a teleseminar session about the topic to loyal fans and followers, they sign up for the call to hear your wisdom on the subject, then they buy because they want to learn more. In another scenario, an affiliate hosts a teleseminar interview with you and introduces his or her fans and followers to your ideas, with the same result. Third,...
•Publicity Stunts Still Earn Attention
Publicity Stunts Still Earn Attention by Marcia YudkinPublicity Stunts Still Earn Attentionby Marcia YudkinWho says publicity stunts are passé? Outrageous staged events designed solely to show up on the evening news still get the job done when they're clever and fun.Stan Heimowitz, owner of Celebrity Gems in Castro Valley, California, not long ago successfully dramatized in the streets of San Francisco the fact that IntraLinux, a small software company -- Heimowitz's client -- is challenging...
•Tantalizing Headlines: Do's and Don'ts
Tantalizing Headlines: Do's and Don'ts by Marcia YudkinPut yourself in the position of a newspaper or magazine editor scanning the newswires and the day's email and faxes for relevant content. How would you rate the following headlines, actually found on the Internet:New Slaves in AmericaHP Wheels Out Year-long Tour Bringing Digital Adventure Directly to ConsumersLittle Kids Re-introduces Sqwish Ball Adding Shimmer to the Sqwish!>From the editor's perspective, all three of these headlines...
•The Anatomy of Hype
The Anatomy of Hype by Marcia YudkinOn a copywriting board I frequent, someone expressed bafflement that several respected marketers criticized the tone of a sales page he wrote. "Why did they apologize to their subscribers while linking to my pitch? This approach sells," he said.Hype was the problem. If you use the following tactics, many educated shoppers cringe and go elsewhere:Overblown claims. "If You Can Write Your Name, You Can Write a Book in 30 Days - Guaranteed!" Overexcited tone....
•The Benefits Of Branding
Branding is the process of creating distinctive and durable perceptions in the minds of consumers. A brand is a persistent, unique business identity intertwined with associations of personality, quality, origin, liking and more. Here’s why the effort to brand your company or yourself pays off.
1. Memorability. A brand serves as a convenient container for a reputation and good will. It's hard for customers to go back to "that whatsitsname store" or to refer business to "the plumber from the...
•The Five Most Commonly Encountered, Off-putting E-commerce Errors
The Five Most Commonly Encountered, Off-putting E-commerce Errors
by: Marcia Yudkin
While getting less public handwringing than during holiday season, the "abandoned shopping cart problem" continues to wreak havoc on online sales. Recently I judged a raftload of sites for the Webby Awards (my second time) and for the Inc. magazine Web Awards, as well as for my own clients. Here are the five irritants and obstacles that most frequently disrupt the visitor's shopping experience at...
•The Mystique Of Numbers In Company Names
While visiting the House of the Seven Gables in Salem, Massachusetts two weeks ago, made famous in the 1851 book by Nathaniel Hawthorne, I mentally tried out other numbers to see if they would sound as spooky and portentous.
To my ear, House of the Five Gables sounds all too ordinary, while House of the Eight Gables lacks anything that would send a chill up someone's spine. Both the sound of "seven" and its properties as both odd and prime give it a reverberating ring. I would go so far as to...
•Theme Marketing: Copywriting Technique #127
One of the best-designed sales pieces I've received in years was a come-on for an MIT conference. Every panel implemented the metaphor of a deck of cards in both design and text. Bullets in the form of hearts, spades, diamonds and clubs and subheads like "This session provides you with all the aces you need" carried through the unified theme. After spending so much time exploring this piece, I figured the conference sessions would have something to teach me too, and I signed up.
Another...
•Those Telltale Typos
Those Telltale Typos by Marcia Yudkin"To be or to be." That's how one of the most famous sentences in the English language began several years ago in a new edition of Shakespeare's "Hamlet." Six professional proofreaders failed to catch the mistake, which received national publicity and gave the publishing company a red face.Similarly, the Wall Street Journal once devoted eight column inches to ridiculing a conference on critical thinking that sent out a press release referring to the...
•Tips are Perennially Tempting
Tips are Perennially Tempting by Marcia YudkinTechies love them. Young and old technology haters love them. Most importantly, editors love them. Tips -- neatly packaged, numbered nuggets of advice -- are always appealing to those whose job it is to fill up publications with entertaining and illuminating information. They can therefore represent a lucrative route to publicity for you or your organization.The content of tips that earn you media coverage doesn't have to be original, exclusive...
•Tips For Evocative, Distinctive Company Names
As the sponsor of a Name-This-Company Contest, I’ve been watching suggestions come in by the dozens every day. Unfortunately, the great majority of names submitted so far do not pass “go.” A good company name is not only catchy and evocative, but also pronounceable, spellable and not likely to backfire because of unsavory associations.
Since the contest offers a prize of $100 for the best business name submitted, along with the chance to become a professional “namer,” getting paid to think...
•Why Bother Building A Brand?
At a conference in Dallas not long ago, a graphic designer from Kentucky and I sat down at a table where people were exchanging business cards. I looked at his logo, and he studied the name on my card.
"I know that logo. We've been in touch in the past," I said.
"That's right. I know your name," he said.
Although we weren't able to pinpoint when or why we'd exchanged mail previously, we guessed it had been at least five years back. Neither one of us has an extraordinary memory. Rather, he...
•Wrapping Up Profits with a Package Deal
Wrapping Up Profits with a Package Deal by Marcia YudkinA landscaping company complained to a reporter that instead of carefully defining their needs, interested prospects say, "Send us a proposal.""That's like saying, 'Go buy a car,'" objected the owner. "We need to get people to think about what they want."Not necessarily. They can set up new customers well in less time by offering a line-up of package deals. Packages of services or products provide a combination of options at a set price,...
•You Too Can Create Newsworthy Research
You Too Can Create Newsworthy Research by Marcia YudkinTake a close look at the front section of specialized magazines, and you'll often find little articles highlighting results of some study or poll conducted by some private company or other. Research data is also often cited by general-interest publications like USA Today and network newscasts. You don't need a Fortune 500 sized budget to undertake a newsworthy study, or to receive coverage for it, either to your industry or the general...
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