David Airey's link for now

Follow this link to David Airey's Graphic Design blog.
Enjoy again.

David Airey was Robbed!

David Airey, a fine Graphic Designer from Scotland recently had his domain stolen from under his nose. Now if you go to DavidAirey.com all you will find is a sponsored link page instead of the great blog he's been building for quite some time now. Watch this space for a new link to his blog, so that we can continue to read his observations - inspiring all.

They may have stolen his domain but not his brand, which I believe will emerge even stronger once this ordeal has been put to bed.

All the best David in the New Year,

Ed

Have Friends - Will Travel!

What do you do when you are offered an opportunity, but you are unable to fulfill it? It would be a bad move to take it on then take the risk of fouling it up and damaging your brand. Sometimes our skill sets are not complimentary with an opportunity offered. BUT we have friends or colleagues who have the desired experience.

It is important that you build relationships with your industry for just this reason. All too often, business people are very paranoid to build alliances. We all hear about partnering but putting it into action takes trust in someone you essentially don't know. Myself, I give the benefit of a doubt. Through blogging I've met a good number of people whom I've targeted as potential partners of future projects - as yet unknown.

Off-line, I've also developed professional relationships that will definitely help to put another dollar in my pocket. A great recent example of this was an email I got first thing in the morning last Friday. The writer was looking for good advice on a branding issue concerning non-profits. This is an area I have little experience with. I wouldn't dream of faking it and trying to figure it out later. My goal is to try and find the writer a solution to their problem. They found me by googling and choosing my web-site to begin their journey.

The writer was a Canadian organization with a interesting dilemma. From the initial discussion, I offered to help by referencing my resources to pull in the right experienced party to solve the problem on the table. I am located in Leamington, Ontario Canada - across from Detroit, Michigan. I contacted an associate of mine in Cincinnatti/Northern Kentucky who has a partner in Minneapolis/St. Paul who has exactly the experience needed. The Writer hailed from our nation's capitol - Ottawa.

So, in the course of an hour the writer went from a blind contact to potentially finding a solution to their problem., crossing an international border. It was accomplished with help of affiliates all working together to find opportunities to solving brand issues where ever they may occur. Of course this is networking on a global scale, but suffice to say it works. I have access to specific talents in Tampa, Florida - Toledo and Cincinnati, Ohio - Brisbane, Australia - Chicago and Troy-Michigan to name a few. Of course by extension, you have trusted access to their affiliates. This is "Linked-in" on a more personal and professional level. It doesn't only apply to places far and wide but also locally with trusted contacts.

I'm not a secretive person and I dislike egos and game playing. In the spirit of trust, I enjoy the challenge of finding a solution that is asked of me. It makes my brand more powerful if I am able to develop solutions for any number of industries. It's like they say about hiring employees - hire those smarter than you. The same holds true for building your brand, build the walls with strength with yourself as the foundation.

Ten Steps to Brand Power.

Let's start with the assumption that you've done your homework and you've established a competitive strategy based on differentiation. Now here's where we go next.

1. Develop a logo that inspires your audience adopting a palette that sets you apart.

2. Use the corporate palette through out your entire operation.

3. Use the same logo on your business cards, stationary, signs, vehicles etc.

4. Everyone in the company must know the same brand message.

5. Your marketing materials must exhibit the same brand image and brand message. Your materials should represent accurately what your companies stand for.

6. Your product or service should reflect your brand values and personality.

7. In your presentation materials - be sure that your brand image is on every page and in the corporate palette. The target audience should always be aware of who is talking to them.

8. Develop a PR presence that reflects the type of brand relationship you wish to create with your customers. Never surrender your brand values just for a little notoriety.

9. Put your differentiation front and center in everything that you do.

10. Talk to your stake holders to be sure that your brand is still on track and they understand exactly who you are and what you are offering.

Maintaining your corporate brand doesn't have to be difficult. Just bear in mind to stay on track with a consistent message. The worst mistake you can make is to tire of your brand image and "update" it way before your market has even come to value it. You have to give it time to make an imapct and work to your favor. Icons for instance can take up to 2 years before they are recognized as the parent company. Have patience and soldier on.

Newsletters made easy.

I know of many companies who have had the best intentions to start distributing a newsletter but failed after the first one simply because they take so much time to assemble content. This doesn't have to be the case anymore.

My newsletter "Useful Information" just celebrated it's 40th issue this month. I send it out monthly - free to it's subscribers. I'm on a MAc, so I develop it in Quark Xpress and export it as an PDF file with live links. Each month I only spend about 3 to 4 hours assembling it. I get articles from "ezinearticles.com." It's a great article service as you just pick topics of interest to you and they email you articles based on that query.

I usually write one or two articles myself, based on subscriber's requests or a topic I want to cover that month. From here I have a couple of regular features I include. One is a quiz whereby I show just the icon or symbol from a company and ask the reader to identify it. The answer is always on page two. To help relieve the workday stresses, I include a weblink to a novel or interesting website as a distraction.

Promotional content I typically include is some samples of some recent projects I've just completed, a plug for my favorite networking group in Detroit, and an ad for my current DIY product called, DIY Brand Builder.

Other than that, if a client or friend is promoting a charity event, I also include a plug for that as well.

After 40 issues, I find it a great tool for building my personal and corporate brand and I get a few new subscribers every week. It is called "Useful Information" simply because my goal is to provide information that readers can actually use to better their businesses. The articles I choose to use,
I find useful myself, ( which is part of my criteria ) . You too can build a monthly newsletter with great content with just a little effort. With the web you can develop a newsletter which is nothing more than relevant links to a niche topic. For the newsletters that I subscribe to, it is mostly important that it not be a blatant advertising piece. I deliver it in an email with a bulk mailer program.

I think you will feel you it is the perfect tool, when you get your first compliment on a job well done.

Good Will Invoice (Smart Idea!)

This is just a great and simple one that I picked up from a client yesterday during a branding session I was facilitating with them.

Essentially it boils down to keeping track of all those little favors you do for customers through out the year but can't really bill for them. How can you benefit from from your largess? Well here's a fantastic way to go about about it and something your customer won't mind getting.

It's called a "Good Will Invoice".

All you have to do is put a value to all those little things you do for free and once a year send out the "Good Will Invoice". It is not an invoice to pay, it is simply to show how 'much value' added there is to working with you. I believe this to be a great public relations move and one to kick up your brand in your customer's mind.

Have a good day.

The customer is always right!

What is it they say - "If it wasn't for the customers, business would be a joyous thing!" Have you ever wondered what your customers think of you and thus by extension -your brand? If you are addressing your brand strategy correctly, you are striving to build strong relationships with your customers. You are probably doing your utmost to make sure that their every touch point with your company is a good experience. Do you have processes in place that addresses any problems that may arise? You don't want your customer to dance around voice mail hell or get the cold shoulder by service managers. Customer service should be exactly that 'service'.

What we all must respect is the customer's opinion. Some times for whatever reason, the customer may have a negative opinion of your brand. The opinion may even be based on something which is simply untrue, but the bottom line is the customer is always right. Nobody says you have to do business with them again, you only have to make it right. Regardless of how you 'truly feel', it is always best to take the high road and get the matter behind you both and move on. The value of your brand is much more important than making a few grudge points by laying into the customer just to make sure they understand your position. Believe me, over the past 25 years I've wanted to tear a few heads off, but thought better of the idea to make sure that I don't burn any bridges and that my reputation stays on a purely professional level.

What do you do to make your customer's experience a great one? Do you give thank you gifts at Christmas? Do you track their birthdays, anniversary's etc. and send out cards? One way I impact my customer's experience with me is to put myself in front of them personally. Today many of us are way to eager to take the easy way out and rely solely on voice, email and texting as our main point of contact with our customers. This can result in a large branding problem based on the fact that this expedient contact eliminates any personal connection to you. Your are easy to replace, since you have no personal contact. You are much like a price-based brand connection. The next cheapest price, replaces you. I make it a point to get face to face contact as much as possible. This also gets me additional business.

So I suggest infusing some low tech contact to make your brand valuable. This personal relationship goes a long way to smoothing rough waters when situations do arise. A customer is more likely to cut you some slack if they know "You". We also know for a fact that how we handle rough waters reflects in many ways what our brand represents. How you handle a customer's problem, if it is done correctly and on-brand, will turn that customer into a long term advocate for you. It pays that customers are right. In the business world, a customer's perception of your brand is as important as the reality of your brand. They must work in unison - this forms the bond of a great brand relationship.