This is a TV interview I did for One On One with Steve Adubato. It’s about 10-minutes long. Usually TV interviews are fast and furious and about sound bites. This show is better than that. We had time to sit down and really talk. I enjoyed it very much. I hope you do too.
Recently, I was asked if I thought “Leaders who want to be more effective” was a good target market.
If you are just starting out the answer is no, because—”Leaders that want to be more effective” is a good start yet spend some time and drill down further in two areas:
1. Define effective–it could be effective communicators, effective in HR, effective with time, in sales…
2. Narrow what types of leaders to start with. What is a business leader? Are you wanting C-Level, Top-Level Executive (CEO, CRO, CIO)? Or business leaders in the community, or….
You have to know where to find them… business leaders sometimes have associations and online forums, however it is better to go narrower than that, it could be sales leaders, church leadership, cpa leaders, boy scout leaders….
It is important to focus at first so you can narrow down where your target gathers in groups. As your reputation in your industry grows, the more you are seen as an expert in your field the easier it is to go larger, and be a bit vague…. (Be sure you know exactly your market though, do not be so vague you don’t know your target.)
Most people think of a logo when they hear the word brand. Brands are not just logos. Brands are the intangibles that consumers believe about your company, product or service. When we see a logo, we usually think of a brand—the swoosh and Nike, the golden arches and McDonalds, but brands have many “parts.”
Today, the first part of a three part series, the most obivious part of a brand — the visible part of your brand — the logo, logotype, jingle, tagline, etc; including the color, font, sound, look and feel. When developing this part of our company or brand take care to make the look and feel compatible with the Identity you are nurturing in the mind of the consumer.
Your logo, logotype, colors, the entire look and feel, including the marketing methods, should be consistent with your message and customer promise.
Most important, in developing the look and feel of your brand, keep the visual simple including your logo and logotype. Remember it may need to be embroidered on shirts or put on a billboard. Color selection is important also. The more colors in the logo, the more costly it may be to print. Stay away from “fad” or “in” colors and fonts. Just a couple of years ago, teal and gray were all the rage as was the font Papyrus. Now, they look old and dated.
Keep your logo symbol consistent with the product—if you sell law books, do you really want a zippy-do-da logo? Today, more than ever the symbol of the product can be as valuable as the product to a company’s bottom line. Popular symbols are increasingly being sold to licensed products, such as most major movies these days license names and character features for toy development.
“We don’t live in a world of reality, we live in a world of perceptions.”
~Gerald J. Simmons~
Have a great day in whatever your adventure,
Sharon
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Keep It (the graphic and visual web elements) Simple and give the eye Space.
Nothing ruins a website faster than bad graphics. There is a real art to creating graphics for the web. Images need to download quickly, yet maintain image quality. When placing visuals leave sufficient white space on your page. Too little space and your page can feel cramped and constricted. Too much white space and things look as if you don’t have much to say…
Remember, the eye needs space to make good decisions. White space is prime space. “White space” doesn’t have to be white, but it does need space. Soft, neutral background colors like gray and beige work well. Even simple graphics such as fades and light stripes work. The idea is to create a stylish, yet simple canvas for your message. Strong colors and contrast draw the eye to the important points on a page. Use color sparingly.
Usually keep your text to one dark color and then use a highlight color for subheads. Many readers find reading a computer screen tiring, so avoid yellow text, it is difficult to read on screen. No more than three colors, please, that’s enough. Too much color looks amateuerish—with all the competition on the web it is important to look professional and up-to-date.
Another way to keep the visual simple is to limit the number of fonts.
As with colors and graphics, you can have font variation without confusion. Limit the number of fonts and font styles you use. Just like with color, try to use no more than three fonts.
Make sure the body copy legible (test the size in all browsers on both the Mac and PC). Consider your audience, the older the target audience the larger the type and the darker the color. If your target market is older than 40, consider using bigger text (14 point) to help the quick “scanability” of your page. Use reverse type sparingly, especially if your target market is older than 65.
Most people just really scan a page, they don’t read it from top to bottom. Fewer distractions with fancy fonts increase the ability to scan a page quickly. Studies show they read the headline, and the p.s. first, then read the subheads and bullets. Bullets increase the scan factor of a page for all ages yet, search engines don’t really like bullets, so just like with colors, and fonts, balance is key.
Have a great day in whatever your adventure.
To Life! To Success!
Sharon
If your small business is dependent on search engine traffic, it is essential in today’s crowded Internet to use all possible opportunities to up your Organic Search Engine* rankings.
Here is a trick I learned from public speaking, but it holds true for copy as well; Tell ‘em what you are going to tell ‘em. Tell ‘em. Tell ‘em what you told ‘em.
An easy strategy for successful organic search placement, is to place your keywords strategically in the copy of your web pages, especially your home page and blog.
Try to use your main keyword, product or concept in your page title, headline and sub heads. The page title is not the headline; it is the little bar at the top of your browser. Examples could include Product Launch | Business Market Testing | Copywriting | Presentation Skills | Presentation Coaching | Business Automation.
After the headline, in the first paragraph, mention your main keyword again, and then develop the story by weaving the main keyword and keywords related to the main keyword or concept throughout the copy.
Summarize in the last paragraph.
Depending on the length of the article, five to seven of your most important keywords should appear in the beginning of the document, then flow throughout the middle of the copy and again be repeated in your close. Too many keywords can be used, so choose your words and their placement carefully.
One final thought on keyword placement, include keywords in all embedded links in your copy. When linking copy text to other pages of your website make a link e.g. for more information on our Safety Programs, instead of “Click here.” Most people now know that the underline is a clickable link. If you must say, “Click Here,” make both the keywords and click here the link make an adjacent link for your keywords.
Organic search engine rankings do not happen overnight. There are just too many web pages and variables out there to hit number one overnight, but with just a few tweaks here and there you can greatly improve your odds of climbing in the search engine rankings each month.
Have a great day in whatever your adventure.
To Life! To Success!
Sharon
* Organic Search: Organic search is a search where the end-user or customer uses words in a Search Engine Window they think will find what they are looking for. The “organic” results that you receive are typically right below the “Sponsored” results that are Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns. Organic results are reached by the relevancy of the topic and how well the content within an existing web page ranks given multiple factors within a search engine’s ranking program(s).
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