The Entrepreneurship Institute

One byproduct of a down economy is a surge in entrepreneurship as people squeezed by layoffs and a tight job market opt to start their own businesses.

Securing funding, working out product development/service offering issues, honing business plan strategies, and wearing multiple hats is a lot to juggle – which means branding, unfortunately, often gets pushed to the bottom of the priority list. But establishing the right brand position right out of gate is the key to early success for any business.

Branding clearly communicates what your company does, tells customers what they can expect from your products and services, and how what you have to offer is different from your competitors.

A strong brand creates an emotional bond with customers. When a brand really “connects,” it not only creates a barrier for competitor entry, but also develops a premium situation where consumers perceive a higher product value.

What are the first steps in developing and implementing a brand strategy?

1. Assess your position in the marketplace. Do people know what your company stands for? Are your products and services relevant? What is the current market opportunity?

2. Develop the tools you need, starting with a marketing plan that outlines goals and objectives and the tactics needed to achieve them.

3. Pay attention to first impressions. Create a visual “toolkit,” including a logo, a two to three word tagline that succinctly captures your positioning statement, stationery and marketing materials designed to convey a consistent look at feel.

By putting branding at the top of your priority list, you’ll establish credibility, speed up the sales cycle, and win over the hearts and minds of customers. This approach creates a bond with new customers that is solid and can eventually become unbreakable.

What is strategic marketing? Is it important for my business?

One of the biggest mistakes we see companies make time and time again when embarking on a Web design project is the headlong rush to design (that is to say, "look and feel") without careful consideration of the actual user's needs. In an age where the X-box and MTV dominate our visual expectations, the allure of chromatic widgets and flying type is strong. But too often such eye candy is presented as — and mistaken for — good design.

Effective design puts the user first and begins with a sound Discovery process and a solid Information Architecture (IA). Without both, even the flashiest site is at best doomed to a visually stunning but ultimately ineffective, and lonely, existence. At worst, it may end up costing many times the original projection due to cost overruns associated with fundamental design flaws. Information Architecture is the science of getting people to the information they seek as quickly and easily as possible. Information architects working in interactive media are chiefly concerned with five main elements of design:

Organization
Organization is the key. A classic mistake that companies make is presenting an internal view to their audience, such as literally organizing a company website to coincide with company divisions. How is the information best categorized so that it may be located and retrieved quickly and easily? It's the Information Architect's job to find out.

Labeling
The best organization in the world will be undermined by poor labeling. We see many companies make the same mistake here that they make in Organization, namely, using button or tab labels that are meaningful internally, but inscrutable to their target audience. The other common mistake is to use ten dollar words (Career Opportunities), when two dollars words (Jobs) will do just fine. The object of this name game is to make the label as immediate and unambiguous as possible, every time.

Navigation
A site that's well organized and labeled can still be rendered ineffective by clunky navigation. Unfortunately, there's no such thing as one-size-fits-all navigation. The goals and organization of your site will determine the most effective navigation strategy. Search
There are three kinds of users on the Web: Browsers, Searchers, and Hybrid Browser/Searchers. If your site doesn't accommodate all of these (by not providing a Search box on every page, for example) it's failing one-third of your audience, pure and simple.

Web Conventions
There is an inherent conflict between traditional media (say, print) designers and interactive designers. Traditional designers are trained from the very beginning of their careers to be very conceptual and original. And for good reason. They are often competing with a zillion other messages that bombard us every day. However, high concepts and unique designs are often cumbersome to Web users who just want to find the information they came for quickly and easily. Good interactive designers on the other hand, try to leverage the familiar and the conventional in order to make the site more usable. It's why most sites place their logo in the top left corner, for example, or why the horizontal "tabbed" main navigation strategy is so ubiquitous on the web. It's because people are used to it; they don’t have to spend time figuring out how to get around in your site. BrandExtract never puts form ahead of function. BrandExtract does IA BrandExtract offers comprehensive IA consulting and usability services that will help ensure your site's success.

We're happy to work with and guide internal or external graphic design teams. We can provide a solid foundation on which to build a truly beautiful —and fully functional — website.

IA Services

• Homepage Usability Analysis (Free early indicator of trouble)
• Heuristic Analysis (Find out if your site's in trouble)
• Card Sort Testing 
• Site Mapping
• Wireframing (Build your site on paper before you build it in code) 
• Content Delivery Plans Learn More For further information about BrandExtract consulting solutions please contact us at  713.942.7959.

Ever wonder how to get your company's name at the top of your customers' search engine results? Paige Barrow of GREENCREST's marketing operations shares a few industry secrets for getting your name on the top of the list.

December's issue of Smart Business Columbus features GREENCREST Chief Creative Officer, Kelly Borth, who shares with readers her insight on how to provide the information that customers search for.



Your potential customers are searching online for information to solve their problems. They're looking for relevant content - and more often than not, they find it. The question for you is whether or not they'll find answers from your business. Columnist Kelly Borth of GREENCREST, helps you answer this.

"In the digital era, content is king. No matter what type of product or service your business represents, your potential customers are searching for information to solve a problem or fulfill a desire online. These are savvy shoppers. They look for content that is meaningful and relevant. And more times than not, they find what they are looking for — at least enough information to select who they will contact as a result of what they found in their search."

Click to read the rest of the article on the Smart Business website.

http://static.sgcdn.net/cache/197577/assets/files/4f3bd0f061dc4-197577-3(38)%20Fact%20Sheet%2012012.pdf

New FAQs for You!

It wasn’t all about the Summary of Coverage documents last Thursday. The Departments of Labor, HHS and Treasury also issued new guidance on frequently asked questions by employers and health plans concerning the auto-enrollment, employer requirements and waiting periods in PPACA. The agencies have asked for comments on the new guidance, which is due by April 9. NAHU plans to submit a letter on behalf of the whole association, and we also anticipate that our Employers for Flexibility In Health Care coalition will submit detailed comments as well.  If you have any thoughts you would like to share with NAHU about the new guidance, please e-mail them to Jessica Waltman. For those of you who like who prefer the Cliff Notes version rather than reading the seven detailed questions and their answers, here is a run down of some of the key points made in the document. Don’t worry about auto-enrollment any time soon. "The Department of Labor has concluded that its automatic enrollment guidance will not be ready to take effect by 2014."   What do employers have to do to determining if their coverage is “affordable” or not (a.k.a. whether or not the employee is allowed to drop employer coverage and go seek individual subsidized coverage through a state exchange)? The document states that "Treasury and the IRS intend to issue proposed regulations or other guidance permitting employers to use an employee’s Form W-2 wages (as reported in Box 1) as a safe harbor in determining the affordability of employer coverage."     What about a look-back/stability period safe harbor for employers? "It is anticipated that the guidance will allow look-back and stability periods not exceeding 12 months."     If you were wondering how and when you are supposed to decide if an employee is full-time or not: "Treasury and the IRS intend to propose an approach under which the period of time that an employer will have to determine whether a newly-hired employee is a full-time employee (within the meaning of section 4980H) will depend upon whether, based on the facts and circumstances, (a) the employee is reasonably expected as of the time of hire to work an average of 30 or more hours per week on an annual basis and (b) the employee’s first three months of employment are reasonably viewed, as of the end of that period, as representative of the average hours the employee is expected to work on an annual basis."     Employers are not required to offer coverage to part-time employees.     When does the benefit waiting period clock begin to tick? "The 90-day waiting period begins when an employee is otherwise eligible for coverage under the terms of the group health plan."     What is the interaction between 90-day wait periods and employer penalties? "The upcoming guidance is expected to provide that, at least for the first three months following an employee’s date of hire, an employer that sponsors a group health plan will not, by reason of failing to offer coverage to the employee under its plan during that three-month period, be subject to the employer responsibility payment under Code section 4980H."

Forming an advisory board is a great way to generate new ideas, new business, and community connections. Click here  to learn more.

Where does the return on investment come from for branding? It’s a question we get frequently, and not always an easy one for companies to answer. We believe the formula for calculating marketing investment is driven by 10 top-level factors (or as we like to say the Power of 10). Our philosophy is based on compounding factors and incremental lift in all categories. Even a small lift in each factor as little as 2-4 percent has a geometric affect on subsequent factors and the bottom line profitability.

The factors to measuring brand ROI include:

1. Increasing the quantity of leads
2. Increasing the quality of leads
3. Increasing the size of the deal or basket (number of units sold)
4. Increasing the price point (the perceived value of the product or service)
5. Increasing the close/win ratio
6. Increasing repeat customer business

while at the same time

1. Reducing the cost per acquisition and close
2. Reducing the sales cycle
3. Reducing customer attrition
4. And reducing employee attrition (bet you weren’t expecting that one)

Branding, when done properly, impacts each of these factors.  Advertising and marketing tactics on the other hand often only focus just a few of these factors. Focusing on just a few of these factors does not generate a geometric return on investment and company growth.

Increasing leads

Lets discuss a few of these factors starting with increasing the quantity of leads. Simply filling a sales pipeline with more leads does not guarantee more sales. In fact, this factor by can have a negative effect on the bottom line.  Sales departments may be distracted chasing unqualified leads, which can increase sales cycles on qualified candidates, and typically drives up the over all cost of acquisition.

Conversely, screening leads can have a negative impact on the number of leads. Raising the quality of leads can be accomplished by improving the target universes, focusing the message points, narrowing the marketing channels, and improving the brand proposition, to name a few tactics.

Qualified buyers tend to buy more services and products, which increases the deal size and or basket when properly motivated with the right incentives. Bundled offerings, bulk unit offerings, valued-added service packages, cross-selling services, all work to up sell the prospect.

Driving price points

Driving price is achieved through increasing perceived differentiators: faster product delivery, enhanced reputation, product design and visual appeal, and a host of other methods. Countless market tests have proven strong brands command higher price points, which can be influenced by increased demand and wait list or back orders. Naturally, wait list and delayed starts can cost you sales as well, but generally speaking the hottest products or services can command more patience from the market and people will often pay more to move to the front of the line while supply is limited. The integrated approach and relational influences are the power behind branding.

Focus on an integrated brand strategy

At this point in the conversation you have probably grasp the relationship between many of these factors, and have begun to understand why focusing on just a few can yield less than optimal results.  Focusing on an integrated brand strategy will develop geometric returns, even with only modest lifts in any individual factor.

Far to often we are asked to provide a silver bullet: something that will turn around the bottom line. Something that will drive sales quickly. We find that while there are short-term fixes, a carefully planned and strategic position to brand management is the only one, true solution to achieve maximum impact. So if you’re looking for a strong return on your investment, consider a program focused on your brand leveraging the Power of 10.

Comments are welcome, especially if you’d like me to expand on any of the points in the Power of 10 and their impact on the bottom line.