Okay so you want to make an impression.  London based company Black Astrum has garnered some buzz from the likes of Huffington Post and others on the web offering for sale, diamond encrusted business cards. Sold in packs of 25, 50, or 100 the price is about $1500.00 per card. That’s correct one thousand five hundred dollars per card. Now here’s the rub. The company will not sell to just anyone.  According to what I have read you must be invited or solicited by Black Astrum. If they feel you are worthy you can buy from them.

There are a number of marketing lessons lurking between each of these diamond chips. The first that occurs to me is the power of exclusivity. Do you have the nerve to turn down a client because their company does not fit your exclusive profile of who you want your client’s to be? Maybe we should all do that more often. Do you even have an idea of what kind of clients you want. Consider this before you just toss this off as arrogant or stupid.

As a related example, I attended an online webinar this week given by a marketing consultant that offers some of the same services I offer. I learned she charges almost $15,000.00 (fifteen thousand dollars)  for a one day consultation. Makes me think I may be selling myself a little short. Maybe we all need to be fishing in a bigger pond.

Another lesson is to ask “what does your business card say about you?” Are you just trying to get the cheapest deal you can find? Are you maybe getting a nice card but then you don’t want to give them to anyone because you determine no one is worthy? I have seen this happen often.  Would you spend $150.00 on each business card? How about $15.00? What about  $1.50?  The average card is closer to three cents and many people act like that’s too much to invest in a potential client.

The third marketing lesson is the idea of offering a seemingly outlandish product for the purpose of getting free publicity. How could you elevate your product or service to a seemingly outlandish level? What would you have to do to offer your product or service for 1,000 times the current price?

Add three zeros to your average price then ask what you would have to do to get that price. For example my book sells here for $15.00.  If you are the sole owner of your business, and have been in operation for at least two years, and are stuck trying to figure out how to market or position your product or service; for $15,000.00 you can get my book and one full day of personal consultation with me (lunch included) just email reno(at)renoweb.net for more details.

Stop and consider some of these questions. I would love to see some comments.

by Ginger Marks  (Guest Blogger)

What is a business image? It is the unspoken representation of your business. It defines how others perceive what you do and who you are. Simply said, it is your business identity. The business that has no business image in place actually has a poor business image. Therefore it is important they you create an image today if you haven’t already done so.

When you consider what you want your business image to evolve into, think about the way you would want to be perceived. Would you personally go out in public without being properly groomed? I doubt it. The same holds true with your business. Things like, lack of stationary and re-used packaging illustrate to your customers that you are too cheap to or don’t consider them valuable. While you may think that being fugal, pinching a penny here will cut your bottom line, they may conceive this seemingly insignificant act to mean that you may not be in business the next time they need your services.

What are the critical components of a professional business image? There are several pieces to be considered. While the whole may be different for each individual business owner, there are five key elements that make up a solid business image that must be addressed. Can you guess what those five would be?

Let’s put our puzzle together.

1. Business Name & Tagline

Your business name is vital to you. It is one piece that cannot be ignored or taken lightly. Because you will carry this name with you for many years to come great care should be taken in the selection. It is not unheard of to change your business name, however each time you do you risk losing customers. So think carefully, get input from trusted friends and decided on the name that best fits your product or service.

Your business name should easily reveal who you are where your tagline should reveal what you do. Keep it simple. A long and complicated tagline is easily forgotten or confused. Take a cue from the corporate giants, short and sweet, direct and to the point, make for memorable taglines. See if you know these taglines. Most of these I am sure you will recognize are:

It’s the Real Thing

You’re In Good Hands

Bring Out the Best

Fly the Friendly Skies

The Ultimate Driving Machine

And my personal favorite

We Make YOU Look GOOD!

Here are the answers, how’d you do?

It’s the Real Thing – Coke

You’re In Good Hands – Allstate

Bring Out the Best – Hellmann’s

Fly the Friendly Skies – United

The Ultimate Driving Machine – BMW

We Make YOU Look GOOD! – DocUmeant Designs & Publishing

Be sure your tagline contains two important elements, that of emotional and functional words. It needs to quickly describe what you do. If you want to open a pet store, don’t simply name it The Pet Store, that’s a little stale. Try something memorable like, Paula’s Pet Emporium or Perfectly Petaculous. One note on personalizing your business name, if there is even a slight chance that you may want to sell your business in the future, leave off the personalization. I am sure given the choice, as a buyer, you would prefer not to buy the business just to turn around and have to change the name and lose those loyal clients.

1. Logo

Selection of your logo is of paramount importance. The three things to remember in designing your logo are that it is easily recognizable, matches the look and feel of what you wish to portray and the colors enhance the image.

When deciding on your logo a bit of soul searching and research before you begin the process is a very good place to start. Find out what is out there already, don’t imitate, be unique and creative. Use the competition as a starting point to give you some ideas, DON’T copy!

The colors you choose should be carried throughout all of your business materials. If you use red and green or blue and white – stay with them when designing your website and stationary.

Speaking of stationary, let’s move on to the importance of well designed business materials.

1. Stationary

Stationary items that should be considered are letterhead, envelopes, business card, and forms. Your local office supply store has a number of business forms available for your use at a reasonable cost. Nevertheless, what do your customers think or perceive when they receive them? Does it show permanence, longevity and commitment? Spending just a little more time and money to create forms and stationary that are uniform can greatly affect your business’ perceived value.

1. Marketing materials

Marketing materials should always carry your business identity. These items may be as small as a pen with only the name and address of the business. Items in this category should include brochure(s), flyers, coupon, gift certificates, card and postcards, and t-shirts, hats, and other giveaway items. Pens are often the giveaway item of choice; people tend to hold on to them, and if lost or shared the new owner has your information. We call this “shelf-life” or your product’s “life cycle.”

1. Storefront/Website

As mentioned earlier, your image gives your business a uniform look and feel when all of the elements retain a oneness. Your storefront/website is no exception. Whether online or offline this is your main source of customer interaction. Solidify your presence and demonstrate your credibility and reliability quickly. Let them know within the first few minutes what you do and how well you do it by presenting your unique business identity in the forefront of your business location.

Take a step back from your business; look at it through your customer’s eyes. If need be poll your customers to get a clearer vision. Once you have decided the image you want to represent you, use through your entire business. Be it fun and whimsical or clean and professional, your image is an unspoken representation of your business, becoming its identity. As such, it will speak for you more clearly than words.  When you have a complete business identity it ensures your customer will easily recognize who you are, what you do and demonstrate your competence.

I challenge you to define or review your current business image. Ask for customer feedback and then solidify your place in the market. With all your pieces carrying your single message you will further exclaim your permanence.

© Copyright 2011 Ginger Marks

Ginger Marks is the founder of the DocUmeant Family of Companies, We Make YOU Look GOOD! For more information, visit http://www.documeantdesigns.com/. Her annual edition of Holiday Marketing Guide, Your business-marketing calendar of ideas is available at http://www.HolidayMarketingGuide.com. She also offers a wealth of knowledge through her ezine Words of Wisdom available on her website.

Here is a link to an article about selling Girl Scout cookies and whether it is valid business experience. I left my comments at the Fort Wayne Sentinel. You can do the same or share your thoughts here which is easier.

I had this guy do this cool sleight of hand card trick to help promote my book.

Please re-tweet or otherwise share if you enjoyed it.

By Lonnie L. Sciambi 

The Entrepreneur’s Yoda”

When it comes to image, perception IS reality. And first “perceptions” are critical. Your company image is formed in a prospect’s mind with their first contact, whether it be with your website, your marketing materials, your product pitches or the way your phone is answered.  It will make an impression that will get you on the path to making them a customer…or one you may never overcome.

Young companies, especially, need to be aware of this.  Customers want to deal with companies with whom they are comfortable and confident. That doesn’t always mean the largest company in the market, but ones that they want to business with, feel will best meet and service their needs… and are going to be around for a while to do so! When you’re small and struggling, when your resources are few and your confidence not as high as it could be, is when you have to make sure you’re not sounding small…or being defensive about being a young company. So what do you do?

Even with limited  resources, in today’s marketplace, with the low-cost and free tools available, there should be no company that can’t create a very professional and exciting first impression. And your website will be the absolute first impression any prospective customer will have of your company because that’s where they either discover you or will look when the first hear about you. Make your website as much of a showcase as possible for the brand image you want to create in the market. Make it the center of all your marketing activities. Use graphics and good copy (get help with this if necessary) to make your company look and sound bigger and more successful than it might be – like a company folks just want to do business with. Now I’m not suggesting being untruthful.  However, how you tell your story (highlighting the good parts and not talking about the lesser ones) is what creates your first impression.  Make it a lasting one.  All marketing materials and product pitches should follow the message and the “look and feel” you create on your website. And, make sure that anyone who has any direct contact with a prospect or customer, by phone or in-person, projects the image you’re trying to build and delivers the same message.

Establishing a blog can amplify your image by further establishing and building your credibility with both current and prospective customers and is linked to your website.  Use other social media like Twitter and Facebook to drive people to both your blog and your website.  Use a networking service like LinkedIn to help create more awareness of the executives in the company and to help expand your network of potential customers and partners.

If first impressions are critical and perception is reality, make the image you create form a lasting first “perception” that turns a prospect into a customer and a customer base into long-term success.

Lonnie L. Sciambi is “The Entrepreneur’s Yoda,” an advisor and mentor to small business owners, translating more than 30 years experience as an entrepreneur and CEO of small business to advice and solutions that help them master business success.

Contact information:

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lonniesciambisprofile

Blog site: theentrepreneursyoda.blogspot.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/yodacanhelp

Facebook: http://bit.ly/dbiMEA

By L. Drew Gerber – Guest Blogger

There’s no question you aspire to take your business to the next level, but how to do it? You may have tried networking, Internet marketing or paid advertising but have you tried to leverage media coverage to grow your business? You want to attract loyal customers and increase your profits — that’s part of the equation — but you long for some magical solution. Let me show you how.

It’s no secret that media coverage is by far the best means out there to take you and your business to the next level. But scoring media coverage alone won’t necessarily translate into record sales or a huge spike in your website’s traffic. Like most things, media coverage is a means to an end, not an end in itself. The trick is how to leverage your newfound exposure to reach your goals.  Leverage it in a way to attract potential clients who won’t wait for you to open the door because they’ll be knocking it down themselves. 

Putting your best foot forward to show the public and your target market you’re the person they should be paying attention to, is what will happen when you successfully leverage your media coverage. Once you start scoring media coverage, keep taking action, nurture your relationship with the media to keep it strong and fruitful. 

Here is how you use your newfound media exposure to build your credibility, and leverage it to find more potential clients and customers. Just as you’re using this media coverage to promote your business, product or service, you should also promote that media coverage to your current and prospective clients to really maximize your exposure. Social networking is great for this! Let’s say you land a segment on CNN.  The next thing you should do is tell the world about it via Twitter. If you give an interview on a local radio station, post a link to it on your Facebook profile. You get the picture. Just as the media promoted you, you’ll want to promote the media to get more exposure for your message. That’s leveraging the media coverage. 

If you’ve scored a television interview where you discussed 5 tips that will aid people in their job search or grow their business, suggest they visit your website where they can learn 5 more tips.  Like any technique you employ to grow your business, leveraging media coverage takes a commitment. But you’ll be hard pressed to find any other strategy that will give you such a large return on your investment. 

More and more people are using social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to search for their information. If a prospective client lands on one of your profiles and finds links to your recent media coverage that’s an instant boost to your credibility. 

Promote your media coverage in your newsletters and email blasts. Media coverage is a great way to give credibility to the information you’re providing, while creating another avenue to re-engage past clients and followers, and make your website a valuable resource for people. 

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L. Drew Gerber is CEO of www.PublicityResults.com and creator of www.PitchRate.com, a free media connection service for journalists, experts, and publicists.  Contact L. Drew Gerber at: AskDrew@PublicityResults.com or call him at 828-749-3548.

I just visited a blog that was touting the virtues of virtual business cards and predicting the ultimate demise of the printed business card. This is an old story and I have not seen it happen yet. Virtual cards are a great idea and I look forward to them being a mainstream solution, but I continue to caution that new technology does not neccessarily have to replace old technology. Virtual and printed cards can co-exist.

Business Cards are Dead

One complaint I have heard refers to those who have stacks of cards or hundreds of cards in a box collected over a period of months or years. HELLO!! There is no need to keep someone’s card forever. The primary purpose of a business card is simply to transfer contact information that may be pertinent now or in the short term. If you look at a card and don’t remember the person – - where you met – - or sadly what product or service he or she offers – - throw it out. It has outlived it’s usefulness.

If you are a giver of a card. Consider that this is an opportunity to be sure that the recipient has your important contact information and that he or she might be reminded of you or your service over a period of a few days or maybe a few months if they keep your card. If you are a recipient of a card, this is a handy device to help you keep and refer to contact information from someone you have met. Keep it as long as there is a chance that you might want to contact that person sometime. As long as it has value as a potential resource for you.

Just as unused business cards sit on your desk so will unused virtual cards sit in your PDA, phone or computer. Don’t shoot the messenger. It’s not the business card virtual or physical that is at fault, it is likely the lack of a clear message or the very real reality that you have no need for that particular product or service.

Business cards are a courtesy. Offer them graciously and accept them graciously. There are no strings attached. There is no obligation inferred in the presentation nor any commitment in their acceptance. However if you do decide you want to contact someone they’re darn handy to have.

The surest way to grow your business is by expanding your network and improving your business relationships.

Expanding your network begins by simply meeting more people. In the broadest sense meeting anyone is better than not meeting any new people. Of course depending on your business you want to begin to refine your networking outreach so that you are maximizing your time investment by reaching higher value targets. Higher value targets are obviously those individuals with whom you have the potential to have a direct business relationship. But in the beginning go for quantity until you begin to understand how to find the quality contacts you require. 

If your business is broad such as providing self-improvement or personal services like a salon, spa, fitness center or food and entertainment services virtually everyone you meet is a potential client or in a position to recommend you to someone. Be sure all of your contacts understand what you have to offer and be sure they know how to contact you. Your business card is the best device to be sure that everyone you meet has your contact information. Likewise be sure to collect their contact information so that you can follow-up with them as well. Getting new business requires that you be proactive and reach out to your network on a regular periodic basis. People’s needs change. They may not require your product or service today but when the opportunity arises you want to be sure you are the person they perceive to be their solution provider. 

Put yourself in a position to meet as many new people as you can. There are plenty of ideas on this blog to help you find new ways to meet people. When you are beginning your networking campaign a broad approach is fine. As you network pay attention to what activities are yielding the best results and repeat or seek more of those activities. If your market is narrow a general business networking meeting may not yield the best return on time invested. You might be better off investing your time at industry specific or business to business events.  However action is always better than inaction because though you can try to make a good guess often it is very difficult to see where your next opportunity lies. 

Networking is not just about building one-to-one relationships. Networking also implies reaching into other people’s network. Imagine a spider web. There are many pathways available to reach any point on the web. In the same way a person you meet might be the person who is the conduit to where you are trying to get. Simply stated a personal introduction to the decision maker you are trying to reach by someone in your network is the fastest and most effective way to make a valuable contact. Take time to understand the people you know by trying to understand who they know. 

It’s impractical to ask everyone you meet for a list of people they know (though services like LinkedIn can be very helpful).  But by being sure new contacts understand what you have to offer then communicating to them that you are happy to have them pass the word or introduce you to someone they think might benefit from your product or service, you expand your reach significantly and immediately. Remember this is a two way street so be sure to do the same for them. In fact lead by example, when you see a good fit offer to help make a connection. 

Next week I’ll blog a little about the next step which is relationship building. For now just keep in mind you cannot build relationships until you have a network of people that you know. Knowing people is valuable. It is your social capital. Earn as much as you can then invest it wisely.

We are happy to announce that every Friday begining Friday June 4th this site will feature a different guest blogger here at the Business Card to Business Blog. The purpose of this blog is to share ideas about networking with an emphasis on face-to-face networking and the use of business cards to reinforce your message and deliver your contact information. But we also talk about online networking, social media, marketing and other items of interest to owners of small businesses, those with products and services to promote and entrepreneurs in general.

Be sure to stop by at least one a week or use the RSS feed to remind you.

GUEST BLOGGER SCHEDULE

Update:

August 20     Lonnie Sciambi       “The Entrepreneur Yoda”

August 27     Chuck Rizzo               Marketing to the Masses

September 03   Lynda O’Connor    Radio Interview Tips

September 10   Charlie Newman   Negotiation is a Part of Life

I knew it would be difficult for me to meet all of the 100 people in 50 days I have challenged myself to meet through face-to-face networking alone. I knew I would have to engage people online as well. In fact there is no good reason to separate the two activities. Both online and offline networking are valid ways to make contacts today and business people should be using all avenues available. These two tactics should not be seen as being in competition with one another.  If you are following my challenge hopefully you will get a few ideas and examples of how you might broaden your own sphere of influence.

A few days ago I connected with Sally Chapralis a Chicago area public relations and communications professional. I cannot rememebr now if I saw her name on a group discussion board or if it was one of those suggestions of people you might know that LinkedIn provides. But anyway I noticed we had a few contacts in common and I liked what I saw at her profile and website so reached out to say hello. Sally and I had a nice phone conversation and we learned a bit about each other including the fact that she is a jazz fan. I am looking forward to meeting Sally in person at our next business card to business meetup. Stop by and you can meet her too.

If you’ve been reading along for the past week or so you will remember my new buddy Lonnie Sciambi “The Entrepreneurs Yoda.” Lonnie introduced me to Charlie Newman who he described as “the best negotiator in the free world.” Charlie is the retired Director of International Business Development for the Automotive Component Division of one of the big Detroit auto companies. He spends his time now teaching and developing plans to help smaller businesses startup or grow by building alliances. This is what Charlie had helped big companies do and now he is using his expertise to help small business. Well I suppose based on what he is used to all business is small business for Charlie.  He  has presented his experiences and ideas in a book called “Beyond the Chicken Dance.” As Charlie explained it to me all negotiations and alliances begin with a kind of courtship ritual which he equates to the chicken dance but the real work begins once the courtship dance is over. Though a shrewed and tough negotiator Charlie emphasized that the end game is a win-win situtation. You do not want to enter into what is essentially a marriage with one party feeling like they are on the losing end of what is supposed to be a newly formed team. Check out his book, I look forward to some more conversatons with Charlie, who by the way is also no stranger to a pool cue.

Today I had the good fortune to meet marketing and branding expert, Ben Baker of CMYKsolutions.com Vancouver, BC.  Ben and I also connected online at LinkedIn and ended up having a great conversation. Ben markets a few interesting and diverse products and specializes in helping trade show exhibitors get more out of their trade show experience through better planning and execution of their trade show strategy. I am a veteran of hundreds of trade shows and in fact still manage exhibits for a few of my clients. I know from experience that many exhibitors have no idea what they hope to accomplish through their attendence and typically have poor follow up strategies. In fact in Turn Your Business Card to Business I have one chapter devoted to using your business cards effectively at conventions and trade shows.  Ben offers a needed service and we agreed there was definitly a synergy between our businesses.

My final part of this report is meeting Karen MacNab (again online) who is a coordinator for the growing Connectors networking group I blogged about a few posts back.  The coincidences and ironic twists involved in our meeting are too difficult for me to type out here, but in a nutshell Karen was at the meeting I wrote about earlier. However we connected today because she was seeking a speaker for an upcoming meeting and found me quite by accident at meetup.com. Well long story short we did finally meet but it would have been nicer had we had an opportunity to exchange business cards last week since we were standing in the same room breathing the same air. Its’ great that we did connect but it goes to show you how easy it is to miss an opportunity. My short message as always is to meet as many people as you can and when it is face-to-face, seal the deal with a business card. If it is online follow up with an email. I keep most of my general networking contacts at LinkedIn and will blog later about how that is working for me.

For tonight the count stands at Day 31 with 59 new people met.