In the spirit of branding...Here are 5 ways to brand without badgering during the holidays:
1.) Send a personal card to clients, employees and colleagues. This could take some time, so get started now! A pre-written message is fine, but add a personal note to let the recipient feel special. It doesn't have to be long to be filled with sincerity.Examples:
  • "Frank, thanks for all your help this past year."
  • "Stella, hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas."
  • "To the folks at Acme, we appreciate your business and wish you all the best in the New Year."

2.) Create a newsletter focused on the season, not on your business. Why in the world would you do this when your goal is to reinforce your brand? Because your selflessness will shine through, which should be appreciated by customers and potential customers who've grown weary of sales pitches at this point in the year.

3.) Send a little gift. And we mean little. A pencil or pen, a book mark--any simple, usable item bearing your company's name, along with a friendly note, is appreciated during the season of sharing. 

4.) Think local. In tough economic times, communities often encourage shoppers to buy locally. Why not band together with other small businesses in your community to offer coupons or helpful seasonal tips. You will be drawing attention to your business as well as businesses around you.

5.) Send inspirational notes. When the budget's tight, words can be worth a million dollars! Send email blasts to customers and potential customers withencouraging words during the holiday season.There are a lot of online sources for quotes, including www.famousquotesandauthors.com. A quote such a this one from Henry Ford is sure to motivate and inspire:“Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right.” 
 
 
If a colleague, customer or supplier called you and said, "Hello, Job. How are your today? I wanted to seep if you're like to meet for lunch thin afternoon," how would you react? In addition to the fact that your name in this hypothetical situation is Joe, not Job, there are a lot of errors, aren't there?

No professional would pick up the phone and start speaking like this; unfortunately, mistakes such as these too often occur in email correspondence. (Probably not as many as in the paragraph above, at least let's hope not!)

The reason we need to proofread emails is simple: We are making a one-on-one connection with someone with whom we want to build or continue a professional relationship. If we write professionally, we have a better chance of being considered true professionals.

Here are a few quick email proofreading tips:
1.) Reread each sentence as you type.

2.) Read the completed email out loud.

3.) If it's a long email, or if you need to stop in the middle of an email and finish later, consider saving it as a draft. Then look at it with a fresh pair of eyes.

4.) Use spell check if it's available.

5.) If you make a correction, reread the entire email to be sure you haven't somehow added a new error or changed the meaning of a sentence.


You may not get the email out in two minutes, but you'll get it out error-free!
 
 
Some words and phrases are used so much by companies to describe their services or products that they lose their effect. If you want your brand strength to show through, avoid these 7 overused words to describe your company: 

1.) Leader--It doesn't matter if you're a "proven leader," a "recognized leader" or a "dedicated leader." Almost everyone considers themselves to be a leader in their industry in some way. You may think you'll stand out from the crowd by using this word; however, you're much better off showing how you lead rather than simply saying you lead.

2.) Recognized--Who recognizes your company, and for what? Do your customers appreciate your timeliness and attention to detail? That's a much more impressive statement than simply saying you're recognized in your field.

3.) Multi-purpose--Throw in multi-tasking, multi-talented and multi-faceted while we're at it. If you aren't able to list the many purposes, talents, tasks or facets of your business, leave this word out.

4.) Meet or exceed expectations--If you didn't meet or exceed your clients' expectations, would you even be in business? Assume that prospective clients already know your company gets the job done right.

5.) Award-winning--This one is actually okay, if you clearly state the award you or your company has received. If you just say award-winning, the reader isn't clear why that's significant. It could mean a plaque from a prestigious national organization; then again, it could mean your company's bowling trophy.

6.) Proven track record--Customer testimonials and case studies illustrate your company's reputation far better than the overused phrase "proven track record."

7.) Creative--Now, sometimes you can't get around this word, especially if you have a creative business. However, it is used so much in branding materials--sometimes even with businesses that aren't necessarily creative in nature--that a flip through the thesaurus might be helpful to come up with a different word.
 
 

"Brand" is one of those words that has been used so much, it tends to lose its meaning after time. We think of a brand as a company name, logo or image--or a combination of all three, but isn't there something more to it? Isn't a brand more powerful than that?

In fact, a BRAND is who or what you are. An individual can have a brand: One person may be business savvy and results-oriented; another may be free-spirited and off-the-cuff when it comes to personal and professional dealings.

Trace Cohen, CMO of Brand-Yourself.com, expounds on the idea of a personal brand. "For me, someone’s personal brand is their aura and their general feel when you first meet them," Trace says. "Everyone makes assertions and predetermined notions when you meet someone new, and this is where your personal brand comes in."

Brands are not born overnight. "It is a more long-term thing that is really instilled in someone’s thoughts over time," Trace continues. "You want to come to the forefront of someone’s mind when certain keywords are mentioned and a light will go off and they will think of you." (Read more of Trace's insights on this subject at http://blog.brand-yourself.com/2009/seo-your-personal-brand-offline/.)

Companies, of course, work hard to create a brand and solidify that image with customers. Tide Detergent brings to mind the orange box or plastic container in which the product is contained. But an eye-catching container isn't enough to make a brand stick in someone's mind. There has to be substance to the brand itself--it has to work, and work well--for someone to pick up that detergent. The people who make the product have to believe in it, and they have to carry their commitment to the product with them wherever they go.

Trace says that personal and corporate brands are intricately woven. "If you think about it, a corporate brand is just a collection of all the personal brands of the employees."

 


So whether your company consists of one person or 100, the individual brands profoundly impact the corporate brand that emerges to the public. Individual brands affect the name of the company, what it stands for, its logo and images and how it is presented to potential customers. 

These individual brands also affect the words that are used to convey the brand message. When a company believes in itself, that is conveyed through content which is descriptive, enthusiastic and sincere. No gobbledygook allowed! No making promises you can't keep; conversely, no downplaying how great your company really is. The words convey the corporate brand and the individual brands behind it.

In upcoming blogs, I'll explore the ways that the words on your company website, newsletter, brochure and even your LinkedIn page can can make your brand that much more effective.

 
 

The King of Pop's death hit many people hard. Maybe it was because he was a great singer and songwriter; maybe because he was an inspiration to African Americans. It could also be because he died relatively young and mysteriously; then again, the sorrow could revolve around the fact that this guy was so talented and so bizarre.

Michael Jackson had a brand all his own, and it went beyond being the King of Pop. The words in many of his songs revealed his talent and his torment. 

The pop star part of the brand is evident in most of his songs: "Thriller," "Wanna Be Starting Something," "Billy Jean," and so on. Even if you don't dig pop music, you have to admit that Jacko was a master of the genre.

The complexity of the man is evident in the words of many of his other songs. Take "Man in the Mirror," for example:

I'm Starting With The Man In The Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change His Ways
And No Message Could Have Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself And Then Make A Change

Lots of people have sung songs about helping those less fortunate than they, but there's something about Michael's words that tell you the guy has a bleeding heart. You can feel his compassion for the world and his helplessness to make it all right. 

"Black or White" illustrates Jackson's connection with his African American roots. Even superstardom couldn't erase his past experiences or current observations.

I Am Tired Of This Devil
I Am Tired Of This Stuff
I Am Tired Of This Business
So When The
Going Gets Rough
I Ain't Scared Of
Your Brother
I Ain't Scared Of No Sheets
I Ain't Scare Of Nobody
Girl When The
Goin' Gets Mean



The chorus to the song "Bad" shows Michael's strong side, a sense of self-confidence that wasn't on display when the King of Pop was shown on TV interviews:

But they say the sky's the limitAnd to me thats really trueAnd my friends you have seen nothinJust wait til I get through

There are no doubt further layers of his persona imbedded in many of his other songs.

Michael Jackson may have come across as unreachable and "out there," but his complex brand was evident in his prolific songbook. The singer and songwriter is gone, but his brand lives on.  

 
 

Our company is a forward-thinking, progressive, fast-moving company with a strong, powerful and mighty approach toward meeting--and even exceeding--your most important and vital needs.

Huh?

We have a tendency to use too many words and, in the process, not get our message across. I'm reminded of a line from Macbeth (part of what little Shakespeare I retained from high school and college): 

"It is a tale... full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." 

(You Shakespeare buffs will notice that I left out the phrase "told by an idiot." That's because I'm not questioning anyone's intelligence here. We're all smart cookies; it's just that we don't always use our words in the most powerful way.)

It's about substance. Your business has it, and you need to get it across in your written communications.

What is it you want to tell clients and colleagues? Are you a company that thinks about the future as well as the present? Say that! How do you meet your clients' needs? Describe your product or service or strategy quickly but clearly so that readers can see and understand what you're all about.

Then eliminate excess words. "Strong" and "powerful" basically mean the same thing, so scratch one of them. Don't overuse a word like "company" too many times (once in a sentence and two or three times in a single paragraph is more than enough), or your reader will lose interest. If you get stuck on a word you've written and can't come up with a clear definition for it in your sentence, click "delete." If you're having trouble with a word, your clients and colleagues will have even more trouble. Say what you mean to say and nothing more.

Oh, and don't forget to proofread before you send :)

 
 

No one said writing for businesses and organizations had to be dull! In fact, the more personality that's put into a newsletter, blog post or brochure, the clearer it is for a colleague or potential customer to get a feel for what you do. 

What's your company's story? Does it start out in a modest one-room home office and develop into a 100-person firm with an international presence? Do your services help others reach their full potential, or do you manufacture the ultimate widget?

Learn to describe your business or organization with enlightening details that leave a reader eager to know more and wanting to work with you right away!