I had a dream conversation with a new client today. I often don’t hear the results of my client’s success or lack thereof. To be honest I didn’t expect this one. The business owner lives out of the country. When we announced programming classes he held in the US. I knew that he didn’t get a lot of response.
I wrote a press release and even though no one came to the classes, people found him.
Here’s a bit from the conversation:
Client: We’ve developed a second class following the success of the first one so I want to announce it.
Me: Was the first class successful?
Client: YES!
Me: tell me about it…what made it so good?
Client: 70K worth of business
Me: and how did they find out about the class?
Client: They found out via OUR press release!
Branding, Business, Link Building, social marketing
Not sure if some of you missed this or not yet today, but I had an opportunity to guest post on Search Engine Journal today, and will be doing more in the future. Those guys are awesome over there and you should put them on your list of people to read and follow on Twitter. The post today was about creating an online brand and ties in with search – so please go check it out if you have not yet!
Creating a Brand
image via Justice Solutions
Branding
Branding, online branding
When building a new website, or rebuilding an old website, you’ll want to try and establish your brand so that you can be identified as unique in your market. Doing this is not always easy, and depending on your market it can be very difficult. Whenever I’m involved in a build or brand project I try to follow these points below to help me along the way to hopefully building a great brand that can be conveyed through the web design, functionality, etc.
Branding Tips
- Domain Name – Choosing a great domain name can be difficult to do, especially when so many are taken already. This domain name will most likely be your company name so that adds to the importance of this name. I suggest keeping it short and simple and don’t be afraid to using something that plainly describes what you do. Example: www.bestballroomshoes.com.
Branding, Web Design
Branding, Web Design
Who is Michael Andrew you ask? The self proclaimed “maven” has a passion for passing his expertise on to others, and Michael has a lot of areas of expertise. Michael’s resume snapshot looks something like this:
College football player
MBA
A discertation short from a PhD in Genetics
Renowned wedding photographer
Video professor
The reason I am blogging about Michael today is that he has taught me something about business that I would like to pass on to our readers. Michael finds ways to monetize his hobbies and his knowledge. This is a unique skill as many of the most knowledgeable people I know (shout out to my Uncle Jeff who owns many degrees and not much else ;
) are also some of the most broke people I know.
Branding, David Mink
Branding, michael andrew photography
Selling Out To Make Money
Even if you are wanting to say no right now (to my question), I think the obvious answer for most would be YES – if it meant big bucks. All the talk about iPhone and Walmart – if true – is going to bring big business to Apple.
What does this do to the value of the Apple brand though? I first read this story here, and when I read they may be offering a $99 version (not a 4G one people) of the phone it aggrivated me. Why? Like many others – I am the idiot that paid $399 for the iPhone that runs 1/2 as fast as the one now and cost 2X as much. Lets not talk about the fact that I bought an XBox when it was $100 bucks more. I guess I like paying more for stuff.
Branding
apple, iPhone, walmart
As I wrapped up what I feel was a very successful vacation (especially taking into count that I have 3 kids) to Disneyland I can’t help but think back to how everything went down. I have learned a few valuable lessons that I want to share with everyone, and there is a lot we can learn from the Disney marketing masters.
1. How Much I Love Valet Service – After a 7 hour trip with the kids in the car, I will pay what ever it costs for valet service, and then tip them even more for taking care of my bags, and then tip even more when they bring them up to my room. At this point, I don’t care, I am tired and just glad to be there and feeling the magic! Did I forget to mention that self parking (included in my fees) would mean a hike up a hill across half the park. hmmm, planned?
Branding
Branding, disney, disneyland
