Does Your Small Business Need A Facelift?
Not to worry. There are some simple tips you can apply that cost nothing or next-to-nothing and that can get almost immediate results. So where do you start? First, you need a plan.
Plan Your Brand
A facelift, also known as an *identity* plan deserves detailed thought because it involves more than your logo and letterhead. Having a plan assures that everything you put before a potential customer carries a unified image so that the customer can identify the product or service with your business. This identity becomes the brand upon which you build future business, so putting optimal resources toward your brand development will provide the best return.
Revamping your brand may be as simple as updating a logo or as complex as creating a many-page website with double opt-in lists, links and affiliations. Because you will likely be living with your choices for a long time, you will want to consider selecting the image that is not only the most acceptable but the one you believe will enhance your success. It is always a good idea to solicit feedback from others when creating something as critical as your identity.
Five Ways to Find the Services You Need at a Fraction of the Cost
How do you find someone to help with your identity plan? Five ways come to mind:
Offer a high school or college art student the chance to design what you need in exchange for including the finished work in his or her portfolio. A letter from you verifying your satisfaction with his or her work is a help, too. Post the job on a freelancer site and subcontract the work. Search with your favorite browser for freelance graphic designers, publish your proposal and determine from the bids you receive what works best. (These sites can be global marketplaces so determine if terms of agreement are acceptable before you post your proposal.)Barter services with a designer whose work you know and trust. For example, if your business is landscaping, offering to rid the designer of yard-weeds in the spring may be enough to offset what you need. Offer to introduce a designer to two other clients who would agree to use his or her services. The business referral may be seen as equity for your own work.Buy an already created set from a software or shareware company. Add your business information and voilą, you have got a new look. Some Words of Warning
Although it may seem like a good or convenient idea to have a family member or friend do the design work for you, it usually turns out to be far more costly not only financially, but also with relationship conflicts. So, weigh the potential outcome before you ask.
Finally, make sure you have the electronic file formats and copyright permissions (or ownership) you need for the work you purchased. After all, you do not want to be seeing your image anywhere but on your business face.
Related Tags: small business, marketing, advertising, sales, promotion, graphic design, identity, image, logo
Rebecca Jacoby is a business writer an award-winning designer who has written numerous projects for the web and print. She is the author of the e-book for small businesses, Surefire Design Ideas for the Design-Challenged. For more information see http://www.AFewChosenWords.com
Your Article Search Directory : Find in ArticlesRecent articles in this category:
- Promotional Umbrellas are a Useful Tool in Branding Campaigns
With thousands of promotional products out there, it can be difficult to figure out which are useful - Promotional Tote Bags: an Effective an Useful Marketing Tool
Of all of the promotional items a business has to choose from, promotional tote bags are probably th - Avoid Stressful Deadlines
I've mentioned many times in the past the stress involved in an upcoming deadline for some piece of - Proactive Online Reputation Management Tips for Companies When Building an Online Brand
With the speed and ease that information spreads on the Internet, companies wishing to protect thei - 5 Tips on Flyer Printing
If you are not familiar with flying printing, you could be wasting a lot of time and money on your - How to Print Great Flyers Cheaply
Contrary to popular belief, flyer printing is no longer an expensive advertising medium. The downwa - Custom Signs Buying Tips
Every business and organization wants to look their best at all times so when it comes to public di - Three Important Auto Locksmith Services for Carefree Driving
Stuck in the middle of the road with your keys locked inside the car? What do you do now? Call your - Tips to Have a Trade Show Booth That Draws Potential Customers
The key to great trade show exhibiting is marketing. Having a strategic exhibit marketing and tacti - We Wanna be Green
Companies all over the world are adopting green marketing slogans and attaching "built green" to ev
Most viewed articles in this category:
- Protecting A Logo: One Key to Branding Success
Logos play an important part in marketing and brand recognition. Take, for example, Nike's "Swoosh," - Brand Awareness Basics
Statistics tell us that in the U.S. alone, the average person is exposed to 3,500 ad impressions per - Corporate Logo Design
A Corporate logo design is a name, illustration or trademark which gives a company its unique visual - Brand your business
Branding is more than just product recognition inherent in the printed materials that they may be us - Types in Logo Design
Text-Based Logo DesignThe mainly extensively used of all logo types; the Text-Based design focuses o - Small Business Success
Since the inception my business, I have had a lot of small business owners talk to me about business - How to Use Ad Specialties To Brand Or Market Your Company
As business owners, how many times have you been "sold" something?This is especially prevalent in th - Save Time Writing Branded Materials With A Content Blocks Document
Recently we helped a small business owner re-write his marketing and business plans. The owner was g - A Push Culture Or A Push & Pull Culture - For B2b Companies
There are broadly two kinds of businesses. B2C, businesses that sell to individual customers, and B - From Lemons to Loans - The Changing Face of Supermarkets
Thirty years ago we would shop in local Town Centres. We'd visit the local butchers, greengrocers, w
