If you are not an expert in this field, then doing it yourself will yield about the results you would expect. With how vitally important it is to make a great first impression with your business, be sure your branding speaks effectively and accurately about your company in a positively impactful way.

Small business owners often need to cut costs wherever possible. This tends to result in hiring “Jenny, who’s Tim’s friend” to do their website. Jenny happens to be working a full-time job in a field completely unrelated to web design, branding, or copyrighting… but she’s always been interested. She has built herself a website using a free builder like Wix or Shopify, and can’t wait to try it “professionally.” She’s super cheap and super excited so you take the bait.

6 months later you have almost nothing to show for the almost nothing you paid. You have no on-brand messaging. Your site costs you more money per month than it should, and makes you almost nothing. Jenny is often avoidant and treats you like a chore rather than a valued client.

Coincidence? Don’t hire the Jenny’s of the world—they don’t know much more than you do.

Graphic/web designers are typically “yes (wo)men”—you issue an order and they fulfill it. This doesn’t help you unless you really know what you’re doing or happen to get extremely lucky.

If you’re doing it right, branding & promotion is an investment into your company and goals. In 2017, Coca-Cola Company spent $3.96 billion, nearly 9% of their total revenue for the fiscal year, on advertising.^2,3

If you are new to business then there’s a good chance you’ve yet to understand the true power and potential of proper branding and promotion. The SBA (Small Business Administration) suggest spending up to 20% of sales in your startup years1.

In other words, if your company brings in $100,000 in a year, then you should be allocating around $20,000 (1/5th of your income) for making it look good and promoting it.

Building a business is more complicated than building a house—what would you think of a contractor building your home without detailed plans on how to do it?

Exactly. So, if you haven’t laid out a plan of action then you’re either incredibly lucky in for some expensive lessons.

If you’re unclear as to why your company is different from your competitors then your customers won’t know either, which means they’ll have no reason to go with you over anyone else. Make sure you’re 100% clear on which unique attributes make your company great.

Choose the right niche market and put everything you’ve got into promoting to them. If your target market is “everyone” then you’ve already lost sales.

When we don’t choose a segment to appeal to we end up appealing to no one. Would you market to a child the same way you market to a septuagenarian? Of course not.

You can sign up for a free consultation with Orlof’s if you’d like to help with focusing on a market.

It can be easy to write off your current customers and feel as if you don’t need to work hard for their affections anymore. This is a crucial mistake, and you should be performing regular activities to remind your customers of how much they mean to you.

Do you best to ensure any gifts you give are tailored to your customer’s preferences.