brand marketing Archives | Page 2 of 2

How To Decide If You Should Launch Your Product

By Cindy Ratzlaff August 20, 2012

I once had a boss who asked me why we published so many books that were not bestsellers. He wanted to know why we didn’t just publish the bestselling ones and reject the rest. It was a naive question, but one that crops up in every industry. Why don’t we all just launch the profitable ideas and not the mistakes? Shouldn’t there be a way to determine if a product or service or book will succeed before we invest time, money and resources in launching?

There isn’t a truly foolproof solution or we’d all be rich, no book would go unread, every product would have thousands of raving fans and marketing would be pointless. But there are questions that publishers and Fortune 500 companies alike ask themselves before they invest in materials, resources, marketing and everything else that goes into bringing a product or service from the idea stage to the marketplace. And, entrepreneurs need to ask themselves those same questions before they launch because their time, money and resources are their primary investment start up tools.

Personal Branding Tips | How to Start Even Before You Have A Business Idea

By Cindy Ratzlaff July 9, 2012

I received an email from someone recently asking me for ideas on how they can begin developing their personal branding even though they don’t yet have a business plan or a fully imagined business idea. I was impress they were thinking about branding at this stage of their business development and the question got me thinking about how we can all set up foundational brand elements now that will serve us as we grow an idea into a business.

But how can we brand something that doesn’t exists, you ask? We can’t. But I believe that you are always the brand. So you can and should begin to articulate what the brand of “you” includes.

The Cost of Doing Nothing Different | Marketing Strategy

By Cindy Ratzlaff May 16, 2012

Entrepreneurs not only create a product or service and become their own Chief Marketing Officer, Publicity Director and Head of Sales. Many entrepreneurs are not, however, comfortable with the sales end of business.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. There are countless trainings and teachers who can teach you their own step by step guides to identifying leads, pitching the product or service and closing the deal. But without a fundamental shift in the way the entrepreneur views his or her own value, the sales cycle will still stand as a huge challenge; a personal boulder in the road to success.

Genius Spot | Entrepreneurs Success Tips

By Cindy Ratzlaff May 15, 2012

Identifying your “genius spot” is an important business asset. Knowing what you’re good at and more importantly, what you’re not good at, will save you time, money and frustration.

Entrepreneurs must learn to play in their Genius spot.

Start up entrepreneurs must often be their own financial advisor, tech expert, sales force, marketing and publicity team, and personal assistant. All responsibilities that a larger company would delegate to a full time employee. Doing these things yourself can leave an entrepreneur with little to no time to do what he or she went into business to do in the first place.

Making the commitment to find your genius spot and put the majority of your energy and time there can accelerate your business growth. Outsource those things that drain your time and energy to make room for your genius spot.

Ask yourself:

Which tasks in my business day absolutely must be done by me and no one else? Most likely the answer to this question includes creating your product concepts and delivering your services.

Which tasks could be done by someone else under my supervision? This could include your bookkeeping, mailings, design work, implementation of your marketing plan, and your legal work.

Which tasks can be completely outsourced with very little supervision by me? Perhaps, computer and software updates and maintenance, travel arrangements, supply ordering, printing.

What is the cost of continuing to do everything myself? The cost of doing it all yourself could be the failure of your business as you burn out or produce less. Compare that to the cost of outsourcing some tasks and the cost comes into perspective.

Virtual assistants, temps, freelancers and other options are used by Fortune 500 companies when needed to supplement their workforce and keep productivity and performance at peak levels. Consider whether you ought to borrow this success tip from the big players and outsource some tasks.

Let’s inspire one another. What could you outsource, right now, to create space for you to play in your genius spot.

Five Mistakes Entrepreneurs Must Avoid | Entrepreneurs Checklist

By Cindy Ratzlaff November 24, 2011

I’m celebrating the fourth anniversary of starting my own business. As part of my end of fiscal year evaluation, I’m taking a look at those things that didn’t work or were mistakes, so that I can avoid repeating them, change course or simply act as a beacon of “what not to do” for my consulting clients. Here’s a list of the top 5 biggest mistakes I made as a start-up.

Clearly seeing our mistakes is as important to business growth as celebrating our successes.

1. Unemployment: I didn’t file for unemployment right away. Shock over being downsized and my “fight or flight” instincts kicking in caused me to accept a series of freelance consulting jobs before I’d done my homework. My state was offering a job transition program for newly downsized executives who wanted to start their own businesses that would have allowed me to collect unemployment for a period of time while I set up my new company and even while I got on my feet with my first few clients. But because I didn’t consult with unemployment, I missed the window for this program and wasn’t able to avail myself of that financial cushion. The first year was very hard financially and if there are any programs in your state, they are worth checking out. Call your local unemployment office or check with the Small Business Association to see if there are programs that can help you with start up costs.
2. Legal Advice: Deciding whether to become an LLC, an S-Corp or simply to be a single person consultancy are all decisions that have tax implications. Consult both a lawyer and an accountant so you can make an informed decision. In the early days of starting my business, I asked everyone BUT those professionals for advice and ended up starting as an LLC, transferring two years later to an S-Corp, filing to change the name of my corporation and dissolving a smaller, second LLC I created. The chaos, extra money and tax challenges I created for myself all came from not being clear about my business end game and from not spending the money, upfront, on professional advice.
3. Accounting: Keeping the books for a business is different than balancing your checkbook. If you’re good with details and filing and your new business is straightforward, you can use accounting software. However, if tax law and deductions are not your area of expertise, I highly recommend forming a close business association with a good accountant. First, because you’re life and business will run more smoothly. Secondly, because you should be focusing on creating and promotion and selling your products or services and not on managing your finances. I did not do this in my early business years. Instead I filed for tax extensions, kept my receipts in a box and worried, every single day about when I’d find the time to get my financial house in order. In addition to the stress of bookkeeping, I wasn’t able to professionally forcast cash flow, expenses and business growth; all important metrics for taking a business from an expensive hobby to a fully functional corporation.
4. Board of Advisors: This is a trick I finally learned from a great mentor. Instead of asking every person you meet how they manage their business, gather together an elite group of highly successful business people you admire and who each have the experience and business gifts you need to succeed. Ask them to serve on your Board of Advisors. Hold monthly or quarterly meetings and present your state of the business address to them. Share your goals, challenges and needs. Ask for, and listen to, their sage advice. I finally started doing this and my business is growing exponentially based on my willingness to head the advice I sought from those who are further down the entrepreneurial road than I am.
5. Forecast: In any corporation, forecasting for the next 1-5 years is an annual exercise. It needs to be in your small business as well. Taking an honest, unvarnished look at where you are, where you want to be, what’s working, what’s not, evaluating your products and pricing and making tough decisions is the only way to take your business from here to there. I did not do this in year one because I felt I was “dancing as fast as I can.” Therefore, year two was slow and a struggle. I had not projected for or made a plan to acquire new business and when current client’s jobs were complete, I was in a very slow and very scary place. Do not do this. Spend a percentage of your time planning new products, prospecting for new clients, promoting your business brand and expanding your circle of influence and your business offerings.

So there’s my humiliating story of being downsized, panicking, making a lot of mistakes and learning valuable entrepreneurial lessons. Ultimately, I persevered and my business survived and is thriving. I suspect I’ll make more mistakes along the way and I promise I’ll share those with you here.

I’d love to hear about your entrepreneurial journey. When we share our stories, we support the entrepreneurial community at large and that’s good for all of us. Is there one piece of advice you’d give to new business owners? Please share it here or on my Facebook wall and let’s see how we can help one another celebrate more business anniversaries.

Expanding Your Brand

By Cindy Ratzlaff November 10, 2011

Brands must evolve and expand or they’ll end up losing market share to competitors. Kodak decided to stick with film. You know how that story ended. But how does a brand create logical brand extensions, products and services that are within their wheelhouse, without stretching their human and financial capital to the breaking point. They frequently take baby steps.

When Oreo wanted to capture more of the cookie market, they created the chocolate Oreo and the double stuffed Oreo. They didn’t create wagons. Many authors, entrepreneurs and small business owners struggle with their portfolio of services or products.

You are a brand. Your products or services are your brand offerings. When you add something new to your offerings, that becomes your brand extension.

Let’s say you are a successful author. You’ve written a great book on marketing. You’ve promoted the book with advertising, personal appearances, traditional media and even social media. Your brand, to the consumer, is “marketing expert.” Now you’re ready to add something new to your services. You might add consulting, coaching, webinars or live trainings. But if you were to add a cookbook to your brand, you’d have a great deal of work to do in order to bring people along with you as you evolve your brand from business to baking. BUT, if cooking is your passion and you’re using cooking as a metaphor for blending, mixing and creating a product, you’d have a brand extension. If the book were about your favorite cookie recipes, you’d need a new branding strategy.

It’s possible for a personal brand to evolve and include a wide variety of products and services. However, adding things far afield from a brand’s original DNA is best done once the brand is mature and the brand leader (YOU) is well established and has a strong and loyal following.

A Self-Evaluation is Your Road Map for Action

For the rest of us, annual evaluation and planning for our emerging brand life cycle is an exercise worth doing. As you plan your growth, ask yourself the following questions:

Where’s the money? What is my most profitable offering right now? In other words, what are people buying from me now? When people are willing to part with their money to purchase your products or services, that’s the simplest and purest market research.
Customer needs: are my current clients or customers asking me for additional information or services I don’t yet provide? If those services or products are within your skill set, this is the proverbial low hanging fruit. Put energy and time into providing your current client base with what they are already asking you to offer.
Next offer: after I’ve delivered my first product or service to a client, and I know they are happy, what do I want to offer them next? This is the beginning of your funnel. Take note of the needs of your clients. See if there are natural additional ways to serve your client base. Repeat this question after every new product or service to create additional offerings.
Brand extension: once you’ve developed a client base the trusts you and is thrilled with what you offer, you can begin to stretch your brand. This is best done in increments. Taking our example, the marketing book author might now write about sales by making the connection in the consumers mind between sales and marketing and letting marketers know they also have to be salespeople, especially if they are entrepreneurs or small business owners. Next, our expert might branch out and claim mind share as a provider of information about product development, distribution and even sourcing. He or she might divide upcoming product offerings into categories that provide deep knowledge in the how-to aspects of each phase of creating new products or services. Then our expert could create speeches, live events, webinars, DVD series, more books and other creative delivery systems for those new products.

Brand development is like story telling. Don’t try to take your reader from “Once Upon a Time,” to “the wicked witch was dead” in two steps. Tell the full story. Lead the consumer through your thinking process by offering logical, helpful, inventive product and service development. And, every step of the way, double check to see that your brand development is ringing true with your customer base. Brand storytelling is marketing. Your ideal reader or client isn’t interested in a one sentence story that shouts “buy my product, buy my product.” Your idea consumer wants you to paint a picture or a solution, entertainment or convenience that your product will introduce into their lives. They want to see themselves using the product, reading the book or enjoying your services. Your story should reveal a path from where people are now to where they could go if they do business with you.

When you’re clear about your intentions and you have your marketing story polished, then you can add a brand extension that will resonate with your fan base.

Will Ferrell, Stephen King and the New Influencer Class

By Cindy Ratzlaff August 25, 2011

Got Klout?

If you don’t know your Klout score yet, you’d be wise to find out. As more agency heads, marketing VP’s, celebrity publicists and advertisers look for an edge in creating buzz about their clients and products, they’re increasingly seeking some metric to effectively measure an influencers, well, influence.

Your Klout Score is part of your personal brand.

For more than a year, the socially savvy have been aware of Klout-based invitations to special parties at big conferences such as BlogWorld, and advance previews for movies and new products.

This week both Will Ferrell’s FunnyOrDie video website and Mile 81 (Scribner, $2.99/eBook), Stephen King’s new eBook-only launch partnered with web influence researcher, Klout.com to identify and reach out to influential social media users as a key component in their marketing push.

Scribner, an imprint of the New York City based parent company Simon & Schuster, teamed up with Klout.com, a privately held San Francisco firm that measures social influence and assigns an index, to choose 1,000 highly influential users to preview New York Times bestselling author Stephen King’s new original short story, which is being released in e-book form only. The lucky 1,000 are being offered free access to the book one week before it goes on sale to the general public.

As agency executives, marketing V.P.’s and celebrity publicists look for an edge in reaching the social influential, Klout.com provides an aggregated measurement score that includes, among other things, a person’s reach, influence, audience and areas of influence.

Klout declined to provide an actual minimum score for the 1,000 socially savvy influencers chosen to preview Mile 81, saying they target a combination of score and topics on which a person is considered influential. A representative from Scribner was unavailable for comment at press time. Rob Goodman, Director of Online Marketing for Simon & Schuster, Inc., was responsible for putting together the deal with Klout.com.

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