| MondayMorningMarketeer Branding Series would not be complete without speaking about Image Branding. Listeners may think this is a bit off track from what Web 2.0 Branding Series would normally include, however, entrepreneurs and businesses need to collateralize their visual branding also. Guest, Susan Newman is a brand identity designer and web specialist. Owner, Susan Newman Design Inc, Founder of Branding You BetterTM , Broadcast LouderTM , Visual BroadcastingTM , and co-Founder of Frogs Are GreenTM . From designing a business logo and stationery package to print marketing such as brochures, posters, banners and signage, to social media page design (like Twitter/YouTube backgrounds and Facebook pages) and online marketing, website design, development including e-commerce, (theme creation for Wordpress and Concrete5, seo expertise) to email marketing, your visual image has to be consistent. This is what Image Branding Specialist Susan Newman will discuss--Image Branding to augment Web 2.0 Branding. Listen to Monday Morning Marketeer, Image Branding |
Content for Call Broadcast Louder and Monday Marketeer:
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| Susan Newman |
If they want to tweet about Broadcast Louder:
I am learning to @broadcastlouder, build my brand and increase my visibility! #sbuzzu #broadcastlouder
Tell us a bit about your companies and mission:
Susan Newman Design Inc:
Working with entrepreneurs and businesses to brand their image. From designing their logo and stationery package to print marketing such as brochures, posters, banners and signage, to social media page design (like Twitter/YouTube backgrounds and Facebook pages) and online marketing, website design, development including e-commerce, (theme creation for Wordpress and Concrete5, seo expertise) to email marketing.
Visual Broadcasting – takes that one step further. One-on-one in-person brand conceptualization development coaching in 1/2 day or full day sessions. Building a company’s brand guide so their know all their preferences, which can assist them down the road as they develop their presence.
Branding You Better – My blog which focuses solely on branding & features entrepreneurs and creatives in an interview series. Blog posts are usually on branding issues, some are about websites, social media and marketing and many contain video screencasts tutorials.
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| Broadcast Louder Program has both free and premium downloads. |
Frogs Are Green – Co-founded with my friend, colleague and author, Mary Jo Rhodes, Frogs Are Green is an awareness organization helping to save frogs and amphibians from extinction. More than 1/3 of amphibians are threatened with extinction from a variety of issues and need our help. We feel if we can reach children by engaging them, they will care and continue to help as they grow up. This past year we had our annual kids’ art contest which drew 515 entries, and our photo contests which drew 65, all from more than 25 countries around the world.
Broadcast Louder and why I created this?
As a professional creative, who is also a business owner, I understand what business owners need to build their business the right way. I’d love to explain why I’ve created Broadcast Louder and go over some of the benefits it will bring to creatives and entrepreneurs.To build a business the most effective way for the highest ROI, you need to know the easiest and most productive ways to spend your time. So many talk about gaining friends and prospects through social media but you can easily spend hours commenting and posting without any success.
This is because you are not attracting your ideal clients in the right way. You also need to yes, Broadcast Louder… wider and farther and think on a global scale.
You have specific business goals and unique products & services but you’re not sure what steps to take next to grow in the direction that’s right for your business.
Why am I doing this
After working many years in corporate America at an executive level, I decide to open my own studio and founded my business in 1994… that’s 18 years now! I have ridden the rollercoaster of the economy and seen my businesses grow, as I branched out into different areas and I have learned so much. When you start your own business there are all sorts of challenges, from initial start up costs to finding and maintaining a client base, to keeping clients and fans interested in what you are doing through blogging and social media.
I knew I had to share what I’ve learned with others about branding, marketing, website design and development and many more topics. I bring in experts in each particular field so they can add the latest and most effective techniques that are working for them as well as for their own clients. We discuss all the key points of that topic so business owners are learning the most beneficial techniques for them.
In the first grouping of online classes, Creativity + Abundance 1.0, I wanted the webinar series to be somewhat in succession from the first spark of an idea and wanting to create a business around that, which includes branding and what branding means, to the product development, online presence, marketing, social media, publicity campaign and all the stops along the way to solidifying that company’s business plan. Talking the talk and walking the walk.
Creativity + Abundance 1.0
Available as a download, these classes are on Branding with guest, Todd Radom (professional sports brand identity designer), Products: One of a kind vs Limited Edition with Mark T. Smith (professional fine artist and curator), Sales and Cost Challenges with Julie Steelman(bankability guru, and author of the Effortless Yes), Social Media Strategies with Ted Rubin (social marketing strategist for Collective Bias), Time Management with Payson Cooper (social media and marketing expert, “Easy Marketing Secrets”), Website Development, CMS’s and E-commerce with Gina Nieves (Founder of MarkNet Group), Content Repurposing and Syndication with Denise Wakeman (Founder of the Blog Squad), and Public Relations and presentation with Robyn Hatcher (founder of SpeakEtc). What can I say except these 8 classes are power-packed and offer great content. I am thrilled to have these amazing expert guests in this series.
This Spring we will begin again with new topics and we’re starting with…
Starting March 28th with a FREE kick off class:
Ultimate Marketing Tips!
8-9 PM EST
From how to run an effective pay per click advertising campaign to the steps you need to know about building your first iphone or ipad app!
With Special Guest Louis Tanguay of Circle Marketing.
I truly believe that by learning to Broadcast Louder and staying focused, that means consistency as well, it will propel businesses in the right direction, to gain a larger targeted audience, new sales opportunities and greater abundance!
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| Branding You Better offers branding interviews for artists, businesses, non profit organizations. |
What do I mean about the right direction?
The community I live in is culturally active. Gallery openings, theater, movies, bicycle tours, races, parades, and more. The biggest problem I see that most of these businesses are not addressing, is public awareness, and marketing so the public actually knows you and what you are doing.
I know that many of these businesses are struggling dues to cut backs and the economy, but there are so many things they could be doing that wouldn’t cost them anything or very little (except maybe a little time invested) and it could be a game changer. When I see this I want so much to help them all, but I just can’t. I do have my own non-profit as I mentioned previously and I picked one theater company to help, Hudson Theatre Ensemble and have been their graphic and web designer since 2004.
This is why I created Broadcast Louder, because there are so many artists, creative businesses and entrepreneurs that need that extra help to learn new techniques and the best ones and it could truly make a difference to them.
So, let’s talk a bit about some of the key areas that would help a business attract those ideal clients and customers.
Branding What is it Really?
Most people don’t know that branding is more than an image, it's wording too. Clear, passionate words that grab a hold of your viewer, explain your product or vision so your company mission is clear and understandable. Is your product based upon eco friendly materials? Then you would mention that you are "green" or "eco-conscious" consistently, giving examples as well as an overall definition. Placing it once on your “welcome” page or on your business card isn't enough and won’t broadcast your mission loudly or clearly enough. If you don’t express your eco-friendly concept in everything you project and share, you won’t find clients who are interested in eco-friendly products.
Speaking your mission in every part of your business is a VERY critical part of branding because if you don’t express yourself correctly, you won’t get the best results for your business, or, “What you put out there, is what you get back.”
I will say that I am approached almost everyday from companies that want to have me put their advertising banners on the Frogs Are Green blog, but it’s part of our ‘brand” that we want our site to have just our pure content. We just feel it would “pollute” our site and it’s not who we are. For another blog, this would be fine.
Branding is more than a logo
Branding is the look and feel of your mission and company. It's the statement you make in a moniker, tagline or mission statement that defines your goals, and promise to your customers and clients. It’s your color palette distinction, font distinction (in all usage) and your messaging, as a start. But beyond that, your brand and YOU should be “one”.
An example is Broadcast Louder. I don't just say what it’s about, what I’m going to do and what my mission is. What's most important is to teach YOU what I've learned and the guest experts have learned and implemented ourselves, so you can do similar ideas with your own business, building it and growing it in ways you’ve never imagined… and of course I need to broadcast louder also.
I am using the same strategies that I’m teaching and receiving to grow Broadcast Louder. My ability to use social media, the Broadcast Louder website and consistent cross-platform branding, and email marketing successfully, will show you how strong branding and messaging will give your company meaning and impact your own business.
Your "brand" is what you are representing, what you stand for, and what your client or customer expects from you. It's your promise of “it," whatever your special "it" is.
Here’s a great example: I love the concept of “branding” so much that I feature others. They can be designers, artists, marketing experts, and entrepreneurs. They can share whomever they worked with to build their brand and I am sharing it publicly. It doesn’t matter whether they were my client or not, what matters is the brand identity and how it supports the concept of great branding and helped build their successful business. People love to read and watch videos about the success of others and how they did what they did and I love sharing it. It’s brought many more readers to my blog and in turn is helping publicize these people, and if they happen to look at my about page, I’m grateful.
Giving Back is Good Branding Too!
You started your business to speak through your work, to express yourself, do what you love while making money. All of those things are honorable and important but there is one characteristic of good branding and good business that some people don’t know about, and that’s “giving.”
Giving to others without any expectations of receiving. You can give samples of your product to a charity, you can give back your time by teaching for free at a school or local community center or hospital, or online with your own webinar. You can bring students or interns into your workshop and mentor them for school credit and more.
Why?
It’s actually quite simple. Everybody loves to get something for FREE. Period. So, whether you are donating, educating or just inspiring others, they will flock to what you are doing and when they do, they trust you more. When they trust you they are more likely to continue to follow you and even spread your name or company around. As they say, Fans become advocates, advocates become clients, clients who are also advocates spread your name to gain even more clients.
End with:
Coming this Fall: “Sexuality and Your Brand” with Bonnie Gayle, “Launch Your Start-Up” with Mike Michalowicz, “Feng Shui Your Office/Studio” with Ann Bingley Gallops, “Go Green!” with Andreea Ayers and “Time for Globalization” with Brandi Moore.
Class details here!
