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5 Easy Ways to Establish Your Brand Online
The Internet is a practical and accessible tool to build
your brand. Here, we list 5 of the easiest ways to leverage
the Internet to your best advantage:
1 Own your own domain name.
A domain name is the "website address" where your website
lives, and it is the last half of your email address. You
can purchase your own business name, or a variation of it,
as your domain name. The cost is less than $10/year.
If you haven't named your business yet, it's a good idea to
check the availability of domain names to match potential
business name candidates. It's best if your domain name
matches your business name.
Resource: GoDaddy.com is the most reasonably priced, and
reliable domain name registration firm we've found (just
don't sign up for any of their other services-you only need
a website address).
2 Use that domain name as your email address.
You probably already have an email address from your
internet service provider that looks something like:
yourname@aol.com or yourname@sbcglobal.net. It looks much
more professional to have yourname@yourbusiness.com as your
business email. The repetition of your business name will
increase your memorability and will help you build your
brand.
You can even forward your new email address to your
existing email account if you don't want to go through the
hassle of changing your email program set up. The
disadvantage to this is that your old email will show in
the "From:" field-so, in the future, you may want to set up
the email program to not forward.
Resource: This can be easily set-up with many web hosting
companies. We recommed Dreamhost as an excellent web
hosting service.
3 Create an email signature file to use on all of your
email.
This is a mini-advertisement that appears at the end of all
of your email. Include your phone number, a short
description of what you do, any current sales or promotions
you're offering and your website address. You can even
include your logo graphic in your signature file.
This is an especially great tactic if you're a member of
any email lists-your email will reach many people whom you
don't know, and they may be interested in your products or
services. Be sure to create and use your signature file
when you post on online forums, as well!
Resource: See elf design's article on Tech Tips for details
on setting up a signature file that includes your logo
graphic.
4 Have a website designed and developed.
A website is a "must" in today's business world. Not only
does it add to your credibility, it will also enable
potential clients around the world to learn about your
products or services.
The most common excuse that people have for not having a
website for their business is that they don't know what to
include on it. But, you can start out with a website that
consists of a single page. Everyone can write at least one
page about his or her business. If you have difficulty
writing one page about your business, try recording
yourself talking to a friend or client about your
business-it's often easier to tell someone your story than
to start with a blank page. Or, you can hire a freelance
writer to help you get your story online.
We recommend that you expand your site to a five-plus page
site as soon as you can... or start out with a five to six
page website. This larger format allows plenty of pages to
cover all the basic information about your service
business. A product-sales based business requires a few
more pages, mainly in the shopping cart and check-out
capacities.
Resource: Additional website design and development
information are available in our other articles: 9 Keys to
an Effective Website Pages to Include in Your Website
Starter Website Plan for a Service Business Creating Your
Home Page
5 Put your email address and website URL on all of your
printed materials.
"If you build it, they will come" is unfortunately just not
true on the web. You have to promote your website to let
people know that it's available to them, and that you have
valuable information housed there. The easiest and most
immediate way to do this is to add your email address and
URL to your printed materials wherever appropriate. Put
this contact information on your business cards, printed
articles, email, note cards and other correspondence.
Make sure to include your website address on all your
company's materials-letterhead, brochures, postcards,
catalogs... you name it. The only place it is not
appropriate is on envelopes or mailing labels; the postal
scanners don't like it!
Resource: elf design can assist you in adding your new
online branding information to all of your collateral
materials. Contact us for a quote on revising your
collateral.
If you aren't taking advantage of the Internet's many ways
to build your brand, then you are missing out on some very
effective and affordable ways to tell the world who you
are, what you do and what makes you different. Start
building your brand with these proven methods, and keep an
eye out for next month's article, which will give you more
methods to extend your business's reach online.
----------------------------------------------------
Erin Ferree is a brand identity and marketing design
strategist who creates big visibility for small businesses.
Through her customized marketing and brand identity
packages, Erin helps her clients design effective websites
that help them extend their brands, bring in new clients
and make sales. http://www.elf-design.com
The Internet is a practical and accessible tool to build
your brand. Here, we list 5 of the easiest ways to leverage
the Internet to your best advantage:
1 Own your own domain name.
A domain name is the "website address" where your website
lives, and it is the last half of your email address. You
can purchase your own business name, or a variation of it,
as your domain name. The cost is less than $10/year.
If you haven't named your business yet, it's a good idea to
check the availability of domain names to match potential
business name candidates. It's best if your domain name
matches your business name.
Resource: GoDaddy.com is the most reasonably priced, and
reliable domain name registration firm we've found (just
don't sign up for any of their other services-you only need
a website address).
2 Use that domain name as your email address.
You probably already have an email address from your
internet service provider that looks something like:
yourname@aol.com or yourname@sbcglobal.net. It looks much
more professional to have yourname@yourbusiness.com as your
business email. The repetition of your business name will
increase your memorability and will help you build your
brand.
You can even forward your new email address to your
existing email account if you don't want to go through the
hassle of changing your email program set up. The
disadvantage to this is that your old email will show in
the "From:" field-so, in the future, you may want to set up
the email program to not forward.
Resource: This can be easily set-up with many web hosting
companies. We recommed Dreamhost as an excellent web
hosting service.
3 Create an email signature file to use on all of your
email.
This is a mini-advertisement that appears at the end of all
of your email. Include your phone number, a short
description of what you do, any current sales or promotions
you're offering and your website address. You can even
include your logo graphic in your signature file.
This is an especially great tactic if you're a member of
any email lists-your email will reach many people whom you
don't know, and they may be interested in your products or
services. Be sure to create and use your signature file
when you post on online forums, as well!
Resource: See elf design's article on Tech Tips for details
on setting up a signature file that includes your logo
graphic.
4 Have a website designed and developed.
A website is a "must" in today's business world. Not only
does it add to your credibility, it will also enable
potential clients around the world to learn about your
products or services.
The most common excuse that people have for not having a
website for their business is that they don't know what to
include on it. But, you can start out with a website that
consists of a single page. Everyone can write at least one
page about his or her business. If you have difficulty
writing one page about your business, try recording
yourself talking to a friend or client about your
business-it's often easier to tell someone your story than
to start with a blank page. Or, you can hire a freelance
writer to help you get your story online.
We recommend that you expand your site to a five-plus page
site as soon as you can... or start out with a five to six
page website. This larger format allows plenty of pages to
cover all the basic information about your service
business. A product-sales based business requires a few
more pages, mainly in the shopping cart and check-out
capacities.
Resource: Additional website design and development
information are available in our other articles: 9 Keys to
an Effective Website Pages to Include in Your Website
Starter Website Plan for a Service Business Creating Your
Home Page
5 Put your email address and website URL on all of your
printed materials.
"If you build it, they will come" is unfortunately just not
true on the web. You have to promote your website to let
people know that it's available to them, and that you have
valuable information housed there. The easiest and most
immediate way to do this is to add your email address and
URL to your printed materials wherever appropriate. Put
this contact information on your business cards, printed
articles, email, note cards and other correspondence.
Make sure to include your website address on all your
company's materials-letterhead, brochures, postcards,
catalogs... you name it. The only place it is not
appropriate is on envelopes or mailing labels; the postal
scanners don't like it!
Resource: elf design can assist you in adding your new
online branding information to all of your collateral
materials. Contact us for a quote on revising your
collateral.
If you aren't taking advantage of the Internet's many ways
to build your brand, then you are missing out on some very
effective and affordable ways to tell the world who you
are, what you do and what makes you different. Start
building your brand with these proven methods, and keep an
eye out for next month's article, which will give you more
methods to extend your business's reach online.
----------------------------------------------------
Erin Ferree is a brand identity and marketing design
strategist who creates big visibility for small businesses.
Through her customized marketing and brand identity
packages, Erin helps her clients design effective websites
that help them extend their brands, bring in new clients
and make sales. http://www.elf-design.com