Should you emulate the marketing strategies of successful companies like Google, Apple, Starbucks, Sony, Dell, or Coca-Cola? It’s true that these companies have name recognition throughout the world, and this gives them tremendous clout in their markets. But following their lead is a waste of your time and money.

Every entrepreneur and small business owner wants to build their brand and their name recognition to increase sales. But approaching branding the way the biggest companies in the world do won’t work for you unless you have the same kind of world-class marketing strategies budget. Coca-Cola spends over two billion dollars a year building and maintaining their brand.

What can you do?

Spend your marketing dollars where it will make a real difference. You want prospects to remember you and think of you when they need your products and services; isn’t it important to get them to remember the name of your company? The answer is NO. In the small business world, prospects don’t remember or rely on company names; they remember people’s names.

For example – a prospect visits your web site and, if you’ve planned the site well, they fill in a form and email their contact information to you. Follow up with them up a couple of minutes later, and they’ll be impressed, but I guarantee you that 9 out of 10 won’t remember the name of your site.

What’s the most effective way to build your brand and grow your business? Use this link to get the details >>

The fact of the matter is people don’t remember company names until they’ve become a client or customer. I learned this again the other day when Ros, who is responsible for affiliate relations for my company, was calling potential joint venture partners. When Ros called on my behalf, she’d say, “Hi, I’m calling from Marketing For Success about…” The consistent response was a long pause by the person on the other end of the phone. So she changed her lead-in; she mentioned my name. “Hi, Charlie Cook asked me to give you a call about…”

There was no pause then. Most people said they knew me, (even though I’d personally never talked to any of them), and Ros was able to get the conversation going.

The simple secret of successful small business branding is; don’t waste money trying to build your company’s name recognition. The brand you want to promote is YOU and the problems you solve.

Marketing yourself as the brand doesn’t mean you can’t grow into a big business. Oprah, Martha Stewart and many others have proved that many times over.

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Why is promoting yourself as the brand more effective than promoting your company name? Your prospects relate to and remember people more readily than they do abstract concepts like companies.

Your prospects don’t buy from you because you have a great company name; they buy from you because they know you and trust you as a person and a professional. What’s the most effective way for entrepreneurs and small business owners to generate more business?

Help your prospects get to know and trust you.

If you think that marketing has to be impersonal to be professional, think again. If you want people to get to know you and trust you, they need to know you as a person, not just as someone trying to make a sale.

I’m not suggesting that you reveal the intimate details of your life to your prospects. But while you’re explaining how you can solve their problems, do share information and stories about yourself as well as about your business.

For example, if you’ve been a regular subscriber to this newsletter, I bet you know at least one personal fact about me, Charlie Cook. You probably know I’m obsessed with skiing, have a ski home in Vermont and during the rest of the year I bike or kayak daily. I’ve shared stories about my family – my son and his endearing habits, my skinflint Dad and his leaky boat – and more.

How can you establish yourself as the brand and grow your business? Use this link to get the details >>

Ready to put your marketing into high gear to grow your business with new and effective marketing strategies? It’s easier than you think when you leverage your expertise and experiences to become the brand the people associate with a certain level of expertise and service.

Charlie
Marketing Strategies That Get… Results