More Marketing Matters

Monday before last I started in on Chapter 7, which is all about marketing your services. A big part of marketing your services is developing your marketing position – which includes defining your business both verbally and visually.

The first step to creating your marketing position is to define your business – what makes you different from the competition? What sets you apart? You may want to come up with three adjectives that fit your concept of your company. Or, if you have regular clients already, you may even benefit by asking them for three words they feel define your business.

For me, the first three words to come to mind are: simplicity (I believe the process of hiring a writer should be hassle-free), clean (work I deliver will be error-free, correct and concise) and  helpful (I’m more than willing to throw in free consulting or advice along with my services – my goal isn’t just to deliver copy, but to help each business I work with achieve its goals).

So how does this translate to a visual brand? As you’ll see when I finally get this blog switched over to a self-hosted site and get my own personal site set up, it translates into simple design with clean lines and a lot of white space. For a more modern look, maybe you’d want to use colors like slate and plum; I have plans to mix the large amount of white with a little bit of dark gray and either a green or a blue.

In this chapter, Parker discusses her belief that the visual concept of the company should carry over into its logo design, its letterhead, its business cards and its website. But it carries even further than that. You should keep your company image in mind at every step of the process – correspondence should prove that you are helpful, for example. Error-free emails and communications will help create a “clean” image of your company in clients and potential clients’ minds.

Your sales materials should pitch that image. When you go on sales calls, you should dress to match that image. Your voice mail message should reflect it – if your image is “concise” then leaving a voice mail that tells your life story will not create the desired impression.

I think you get the picture.

One thing I believe in doing is surrounding myself with words that I think inspire me to achieve my goals. On the walls by my desk at home and at the day job I hang quotes and sayings – and once I determine my final business name, tag line and the 3 words I think describe my company, I will hang those there too, to serve as a constant reminder of what I want to achieve.

What words describe you or your business? How would you describe your image?