For businesses in the Los Angeles area, postcard printing is an effective way to draw in new customers. However, to get the most out of your Los Angeles postcard printing campaign, there are specific things you need to consider. It is quite easy to kick off an effective and money saving campaign if the proper things are planned in advance. Consider the following tips to planning your Los Angeles postcard printing campaign.

Set Your Budget Up Front - The cost of Los Angeles post card printing services can vary by hundreds of dollars depending on the company you choose. For this reason, it is best that you determine what you are able to spend before you even start shopping around. You should also look around with local companies and online companies to see what the average rate is. In many cases, you will find companies that are offering limited time specials or discounts.

Determine How Quickly You Need Your Postcards - If you will be kicking of a specific sale or event, you will need to send out your postcards about a week in advance. Some companies take one to two weeks just to print postcards. This should be a major factor in determining which company to go with. However, many online companies offer an express service that will allow you to have postcards printed and mailed within one to two days. You will pay more for this service, but if you are in a hurry, it can be very helpful.

Decide What Design Services You Need - If you are advertising for your graphic design companies, you can probably handle your own design process. However, for business owners who have no idea where to begin when designing a postcard, there are many companies that offer this service. You can either use templates online and create your own postcards or pay the company to handle the entire process for you. However, make sure the company allows you to have full control over the final design.

Determine the Quality You Require - Los Angeles postcard printing can be done in a variety of card stocks. While the post office will have a minimum standard, you have to meet you can often go above and beyond this level. Choose from thin matte finished postcards or heavy gloss coated postcards. The choice is up to you, but higher quality Los Angeles postcard printing will give a more professional appearance.

As you can see, there are many things to consider for Los Angeles post card printing services. In general, ordering from an online company will offer a better price and quicker turn around than using a local office supply printing store. Some of these companies will even provide you with samples of the card stock and products they offer. Los Angeles post card printing is available in many different forms and offers an excellent solution for marketing your business. You can even find companies that will handle the entire process for you. From design to mailing, these companies can do it all.

Adir Le writes for Printrunner on topics relevant to small businesses. Most recently he has written articles on catalog printing and post card printing.

[tags]printing, publishing, advertising, marketing, postcards, post cards[/tags]

Indeed, it has become necessary to create business cards that fit in with each particular business, profession or industry. In today’s fast-changing world, business cards must be able to go with the flow and constantly transform.

Business cards can say a lot about a person. It can give hints on an individuals lifestyle, attitude and tastes. Business cards also communicate at a certain level that enhances the image of the business. Therefore, it pays to have quality business cards that are in touch with the times.

Custom business cards work by moulding to the identity, image or style of the card holder. At the same time, they can be made to adapt to certain sensibilities or standards that would indicate the holder’s industry or field, and even their level of professionalism. A simple change in the size, shape, or even the feel of the standard business card can truly astound and appeal to clients.

Black can be used to add style to custom business cards. With the expertise of professional business card printers, a card could have a black background in order to showcase a particular style. A debossed print of the person’s name in metallic gold or silver is an elegant complement to black. A professional printer can capture all of these different hues. Even the company’s trademark colors can be captured through spot color. With the PMS or Pantone Matching System, the printer can find the exact color desired.

A folded business card is another way to add a bit of dramatic flair to a standard card. A more spacious business card also allows room for more text and graphics.

The custom business card can also be shaped into any imaginable form that the holder of the card can imagine. Aside from having business cards with rounded corners, the owner of a daycare center for babies and toddlers may want to design a baby bottle shaped business card. In fact, holders can order cards in any shape with no difficulty whatsoever.

Anyone can enjoy quality custom made business cards, especially if they heed the expert advice given by printing companies when designing their cards. Their expertise will only serve to improve the quality of the custom cards.

When it comes to custom business cards, the best way to customize is to use both the front and back of the cards. Folding the cards makes it more eye-catching to customers. Custom business cards stand out from the crowd and have a better chance of being noticed. A well designed custom business card indicates the professionalism and creativity of the company.

With access to modern printing equipment and a well-trained staff, one can have large quantities of business cards made in no time at all. Invest in yourself by ordering custom business cards. Custom business cards help attract clients while building a positive image for your business.

Adir Le writes for Printrunner on topics relevant to small businesses. Most recently he has written articles on catalog printing and business card printing.

[tags]business, business cards, printing, marketing, advertising[/tags]

Many webmasters understand the importance of creating back links to their site. They understand that creating back links is one of the most important things they can do to increase the search engine results placement (SERPs) for their website. However, what most webmasters fail to understand is that they need to create back links needs on a consistent and regular basis.

Pro’s and Con’s of Using Reprint Articles as a Back Linking Method

One popular and efficient method of creating back links is to submit original, good quality articles to publishers and webmasters. Most serious internet marketers utilize the services of a number of article distribution services to help them get their articles to people interested in using reprint articles. Creating original articles, and adding an authors box with a link back to your site, has become one of the preferred methods of generating back links for many webmasters.

The problem that arises from this link building strategy is that a webmaster will write, or hire a writer, to create a large number of articles. The webmaster will then insist that all of these newly created articles be sent out immediately. Submitting all of these articles at one time, say within a week, will devalue the links that you are creating with the articles.

Imagine submitting 100 or 1,000 articles in a single week to a variety of sources. What do you think the response will be from the websites and newsletters that accept free reprint articles? Often times the results are quite poor and leave the webmaster disappointed with the low number of back links that are created from this link building campaign.

Why Bombardment Does Not Work:

I actually operate a website that accepts free reprint articles and many webmasters submit to it in hopes of getting their articles published on it. If one source submits a ridiculously large amount of articles at once, I generally delete all of these articles and publish none of them! The reason for this? Mainly, I do not want my website to appear to be a website for the submitter. In other words, I do not want my website to appear to be overly-associated with the submitter’s website.

Now let’s say that a submitter tells the article distributor to submit 10 articles a week over the course of two and a half months. This will often result in a much higher publication rate and, consequently, a larger number of back links to the submitter’s site.

Imagine being the publisher of a newsletter or ezine and opening your inbox to find that the same person has submitted 1,000 articles to you in one week. What do you think your reaction would be? Would your reaction be to block this author from your inbox? Would you try to publish 100 of the articles in your weekly newsletter? As you can see, overwhelming the sources that accept your free reprint articles will often backfire for you as a internet marketer.

Building a First-Class Reputation

Spreading out the distribution of your articles actually creates a positive impression with the sources to whom you are submitting articles. With the website that I operate, I have come to know who my regular submitters are and the quality of their work. It is common for me to publish the articles submitted by a writer or webmaster that has consistently shown that he or she submits quality work. This person has shown me in the past that he or she is not only a good writer, but is also submitting relevant articles.

The Rule of 7 in marketing suggests that after a person has seen your name 7 times, that they will come to recognize your name as an authority and a trusted source. What this means to you, as you distribute free reprint articles, is that a publisher becomes more likely to use your articles after he or she sees your name on a consistent basis and comes to recognize you as a person that submits quality articles.

Consistency Is The Key

There has also been a good deal of discussion that search engines prefer seeing submission of content and links on a regular, consistent basis. Following this thought, it is better to get one link to your site, once a week, rather than 52 links to your site in one week. While you will enjoy a surge in rankings temporarily if you create a number of links at once, you will likely not get the full benefit of those links in the long run.

If you were to get 52 links in a week, a search engine might think that you are going to create 52 links a week every week. When they see that you are not creating any more links for the rest of the year, you will penalized by your search engine results placement.

You should determine how frequently you can develop content, and then set your distribution schedule accordingly. If you can only create one article per month, then you should only distribute one article per month. One per week, one per month, your frequency is not important. What is important is your consistency.

Matt Cutts Proves The Importance of Consistency In A Case Study

Creating links is much the same as creating content for your website. Consistent updates to your website will increase your search engine results placement, whereas simply sticking hundreds of pages on your site at once and never updating it will hurt your rankings.

Matt Cutts recently made mention in a video on his blog about one such case. He gives an example of a website that launched with millions of pages, and he shows how this attracts the scrutiny of the Google team. He recommends that it would have been much better to submit a few thousand pages at a time, instead of rolling out millions of pages on launch.

This thought process should be applied to creating links as well. The bottom line is that consistency is the key to success, when it comes to creating back links to your website. Create a consistent back linking pattern and you will see better results from the search engine ranking algorithms.

The author is the owner of an established plumbing business. He writes articles on consumer information / protection , business in general and home improvement.
For more FREE INFORMATION visit hereandhere thank you!

[tags]advertising,business,small business,entrepreneurship,pay per click, PPC[/tags]

Small business owners all across the globe face the same problem: trying to reach a potential customer base that literally has the world at their fingertips. It’s true. People today can buy just about anything they want with just a few clicks of a mouse on their computer. This fact alone should prod small business owners to do whatever they can in order to stand apart from the crowd in whatever industry they happen to do business in. Standard advertising methods, it’s safe to say, will not help anybody stand apart from any crowd. Outrageous advertising, however, is a great way to make potential customers step back and give your business a second look.

With a 99% of all small business owners unhappy with the results they’re seeing from their current advertising campaigns, it seems that a new approach is the way to go these days. To make it even more attractive, outrageous advertising is not hard or complicated. It’s simple. It’s basically nothing more than thinking different about your current methods of advertising.

If you usually send out sales letters to potential or current customers, then you could easily make those letters more outrageous. It would be easy to have the sales letters printed up to look as if they were handwritten to give the mailing a more personal feel. You could even have the letters printed to resemble an old telegram. Whatever you can come with, there is surely a printer out there who can make it happen for you. Anything that will make the people on the receiving end of your advertising campaign take notice of you is a good thing.

Of course, you could go to greater lengths to be OUTRAGEOUS. Marketing Strategist, author of a new book entitled OUTRAGEOUS Advertising That’s outrageously Successful, is a good example of someone who would rather go to those greater lengths. In sales letters to the valued customers when he operated the family owned menswear clothing stores, Bill included a photo of himself strapped into a straightjacket along with the attention grabbing headline, “Prices So Low You’ll Think I’m Crazy.” Would an ordinary sales letter do just as good a job of promoting the sale he was having? It may have, but the straightjacket picture along with the catchy headline almost certainly grabbed the attention of more customers than any ordinary letter would have.

So, in today’s market, where you’re literally in competition with small business owners all over the world, it will certainly pay to find a way to separate yourself from everyone else. Forcing people to take a moment out from their hectic lives to give your business a chance is much easier when you employ OUTRAGEOUS strategies. Instead of telling people that you’re having a sale, why not show them that your prices are so low that you just might be crazy? Why not go through just a little more trouble to make your sales letters more fun, personal and OUTRAGEOUS? It just may pay off for you.

Outrageous Advertising Was Created For 99% Of Small Business Owners Who Are Dissatisfied With The Results They Got From Their Current Advertising. For Details About This Amazing Book Complete With 108 Ready-To-Use Examples For Any Kind Of Business. Go To: www.Outrageous-Advertising.com

[tags]Small business marketing, Outrageous advertising, small business advertising[/tags]

In times like these, with the small business landscape as cluttered as it is and the economy as depressing as it is, every small business owner knows that the pressure is on to grab the attention of each and every potential customer out there. The challenge, of course, is to reach a customer base that is not nearly as inclined to spend the kind of money they’ve spent in recent years. While getting the word out, advertising your products or services, has always been a key ingredient to success, these days a great advertising campaign is absolutely crucial. The savvy small business owner should go a step further and try to catch even more attention by employing OUTRAGEOUS advertising.

How would you describe “OUTRAGEOUS advertising?” How about using advertising methods that fall outside of the norm, but used proven and successful “direct response” principals? Think about the last time you drove past a mom and pop diner in a small town, or even an eatery downtown in a big city. Odds are that they were employing a pretty standard method of advertising. The diner or eatery probably had a lit sign that informed passersby what the specials were for that night, or thanking them for stopping by. That same diner or eatery probably uses direct mail to send out small copies of their menus to households in their main area of business. These are both examples of pretty standard advertising.

Well, let’s take a look at what the owner of the diner or eatery could have done differently. What OUTRAGEOUS strategy could they have considered that would have raised a few more eyebrows, and in the process brought in some new paying customers?

Mailing copies of the menu is a good idea because it serves as a method of advertising the diner’s main product: its food. However, if the mailing is being focused on the diner’s main area of business, then the customers being targeted may already be aware of what’s on the menu. So, an OUTRAGEOUS thing one could do would be to couple the copy of the menu with an OUTRAGEOUS enticing offer.

If a person goes out to their mailbox and pulls out a menu from the diner, they may not give it a second look. But, they’d probably raise an eyebrow if, at the head of the menu, they saw something like this; “For Every Two Burgers You Buy, You Can Dunk Old Man Murphy at Murphy’s Diner!” Add in a picture of “Old Man Murphy” sitting in an old fashioned dunking booth, and now you’ve got an OUTRAGEOUS idea that just might draw in some new customers, and give some old customers a fresh new reason to come back.

Now, when people show up to buy their burgers and dunk Old Man Murphy, they’ll be having a great time. Chances are they’ll spread the word about the experience they had, and the word of mouth will bring in even more curious customers. To think that all of this extra business could be brought in by simply employing a little bit of OUTRAGEOUS advertising . Give it a try.

Outrageous Advertising Was Created For 99% Of Small Business Owners Who Are Dissatisfied With The Results They Got From Their Current Advertising. For Details About This Amazing Book Complete With 108 Ready-To-Use Examples For Any Kind Of Business. Go To: www.Outrageous-Advertising.com

[tags]Small business marketing, Outrageous advertising, small business advertising[/tags]

A cartoon mascot is a great for a company to build brand recognition through their advertising. A mascot allows a company to basically display it’s personality in values for the entire world to see in a fun and related form. Mascots can continue to grow and develop through the times right alongside the company, giving people something that they can always relate to. Below you’ll find a list, in no particular order, of some of the most famous and memorable cartoon mascots to ever exist.

1. Mr. Clean
A lot of people think that the idea behind Mr. Clean is that he’s some sort of ‘cleaning genie’ -given his single ear-ring, folded arms, and seemingly magical cleaning powers. However, he was actually based on a United States naval officer. This character is memorable for his muscled physique, friendly smile and, of course, ability to clean dirt and grime.

2. Tony the Tiger
Originally designed in 1952, Tony the Tiger is one of the most prominent among the many different breakfast cereal related characters. His catchphrase, ‘They’re g-r-r-r-eat!’ is instantly recognizable to kids and adults alike. Actually, the Tony we see today is really Tony Jr., a sleeker and more sport-oriented mascot, who replaced his more whimsical dad. The modern Tony appears to be something of an extreme sports enthusiast, and is always seen encouraging kids to get out and be active.

3. Charlie the Tuna
The mascot of StarKist tuna, Charlie was based on an actor and friend of his designed named Henry Nemo. He’s most notable for his thick glasses, red beret hat, and of course his good taste. He was the source of another popular catchphrase, ‘Sorry, Charlie’ which was said in the 1980s commercials because Starkist was looking for good tasting tuna, not a tune with ‘good taste.’

4. The Pillsbury Doughboy
Officially named ‘Poppin’ Fresh,’ the Pillsbury Doughboy is a ball of dough shaped like a little person, with a chef’s hat and scarf. He is most famous for his memorable, high-pitched giggle that he makes when you poke him in his belly. He’s not technically a cartoon mascot -he was conceived as an animated character but he was actually brought to life by stop-motion in the early commercials, and CGI these days.

5. Joe Camel
Joe Camel, or ‘Old Joe’ is a very controversial character, but no less famous for it. Joe represented Camel cigarettes and he existed as an icon of pure coolness before the company had no choice but to get rid of him -many people complained that his ‘cool’ persona attracted kids to smoking. His use in Camel was discontinued in 1997, but he still remains a recognizable character for many people.

There are literally hundreds more cartoon mascots that, over the years, have become engrained in people’s hearts and minds. While cartoon mascots are still great, many companies are now utilizing other types of media to create mascots that are just as full of personality and just as memorable.

Manufacturer of the World’s Most lovable mascot, Costumes and Characters mascots,. We are also specialists in Custom Mascots if you’ve got an unparalleled love for your team to match your sports passion.

[tags]Recreation,sport,Sports,mascots,mascot,custom mascots,business,Olympics,games,team,design,marketing[/tags]

The number one challenge facing the small business owner today is marketing themselves and their businesses. Small business marketing can be disastrous if nothing new is brought to the table, but if the business owner just takes the time to sit back and think outside of the box, it can also be exciting and fruitful. “Thinking outside the box” has been used so much it’s practically a cliche’. However, when marketing a small business, it’s very much relevant and necessary.

Think about some of the ways that you become aware of services or products that are offered all around you. Think past the high gloss commercials that you see on television and the scary-thin models that push products in magazine ads. While that kind of advertising is effective, it’s also well outside of the budgetary reach of many small businesses and typically delivers the “ultimate” marketing since which is… being BORING!

This is especially true for small businesses that are just opening and trying to gain traction. Instead, think about the more cost effective and efficient ways that you are reached on a personal level by the businesses in your community.

For example, have you ever gone to the grocery store, done your shopping, returned to your car, and found that someone had left a small, often brightly colored, pamphlet under your windshield wiper? Sure you have. We all have. While some people may become annoyed, ball up the pamphlet, and toss it right there on the ground beside their car, most people will actually look at the pamphlet to see what this is all about.

The second that person glances at the pamphlet, they are a potential customer. The savvy small business owner who decided to put the pamphlets under those windshield wipers now has the attention of someone who may just patronize their business at a very low cost.

However, sliding a pamphlet under someone’s windshield wiper doesn’t guarantee that you will convert drivers into customers. One thing that will go a long way toward doing that is by making the pamphlet stand out. Again, think outside the box, and get noticed… in an OUTRAGEOUSLY effective way!

You glance at a pamphlet that’s advertising a new shop, “Psychic Parlor.” If the pamphlet simply read, “Come by the Psychic Parlor today”, that’s probably a pamphlet that would be balled up and tossed aside. There’s nothing intriguing there. But, what if the pamphlet was kicked off with a bold statement like, “I Found the Love of my Life Thanks to the Psychic Parlor!”; that’s a statement that would more than likely cause the reader to keep on reading if just to see how the Psychic Parlor is responsible for helping this person find the love of his or her life.

The small business owner that ultimately placed that pamphlet with the intriguing headline underneath the windshield wipers of potential customers is at a greater advantage than a small business owner who refuses to think outside the box. While the pamphlet may not be as glamorous as a television or magazine ad, it connects with potential customers in a subtle, personal way that just may draw in business. Be OUTRAGEOUSLY creative and be OUTRAGEOUSLY successful.

Outrageous Advertising Was Created For 99% Of Small Business Owners Who Are Dissatisfied With The Results They Got From Their Current Advertising. For Details About This Amazing Book Complete With 108 Ready-To-Use Examples For Any Kind Of Business. Go To: www.Outrageous-Advertising.com

[tags]Marketing For Small Business, Small Business Marketing Plan, Outrageous Advertising[/tags]

Business owners of both on the street and online businesses need to be listed everywhere they can to attract the customers they need to survive. Local advertising and listings in phone book yellow pages and local newspapers only go so far in today’s society. Millions of Americans shop on their computers using the Internet. They look for the nearest outlet of a particular product, in their city.They look to find any source available for an item they need. They look for something they want and can’t get locally. You want to be listed on whatever business directory or business search engine they are using. You want them to find you.

Being listed on a business directory site is not enough. You need to refine your listing so that it stands out above your competition and draws in the customers browsing the Internet. Once you entice them to your online site, you need to keep them there long enough to buy what you offer. If you have a physical location, You want to get those customers to go from browsing your listing to walking into your show room. To do this you need help from the business directory people to make your listing and online site the best it can be.Using their knowledge in online marketing to get the look you need to attract customers, is worth any investment that may be required.

If you want to triumph in business, online or on street, you need to always use the latest techniques to draw new customers to your business and have them buy what you are selling. You can get valuable business advice from your business directory whenever you need it. You can get information on connecting and using all the electronic devices that have become vital to running modern businesses. You can find ratings and comments on different business tools, so you only buy the best ones for you.The business directory can save you from making costly mistakes in your marketing strategies.

As your business grows and prospers, you may want to find people to work under you on the Internet side of your business. You may want to sell franchises of your business. You may just need help in finding the right employees, what to look for when interviewing prospects and so on. The online business directory can help you market your business and hire employees that will help you grow your business. If you have given your business your all for enough years and want to sell the whole thing and retire, the business directory can list it for sale for you. It would be seen nation wide by people looking for an established business to buy.

If you’re interesting in promoting your business online take a look at one of the largest Australian business directories, eMow.

[tags]internet directory,business directory,directories,online directories, business advertising[/tags]

Search engine marketing efforts usually focus on improving the extent to which a site shows up in Google searches. However, there are distinct methods and advantages to showing up in Google News searches.

Show up there, and you’re in the elite company of stories from famous-name news organizations worldwide. G’s News aggregates headlines, leads and stories from thousands of legitimate news organizations around the world and luckily for publicity seekers, it displays news releases (also called press releases or media releases) as well.

One day when I was celebrating my visibility in G’s News, someone asked What’s the big deal? What’s so great about getting a news release into Google News?

Here’s why. First, in G’s News you’re more likely to get found by media people looking for what colleagues have recently written about a topic. Ditto for web-savvy, influential bloggers and others researching this week’s take on news and trends.

Second, because of your inclusion in G’s News, you appear in news alerts received by experts, reporters, columnists and others who have requested notifications of all news items containing certain words, names or phrases.

And third, from G’s News, you usually show up more quickly in regular G’s searches, too.

These reasons add up to visibility that tends to bring you more visibility. It’s a terrific and cost-effective way to get your business, product, event or cause in front of people who not only might visit your site and become customers but also spread the word about what you’re up to, to their sphere of influence.

Two methods get you into G’s News:

1)Getting quoted in a news story and

2)Issuing a news release which may of course lead to getting quoted in a news story. In case you are’nt familiar with news releases, they are 300-400 word documents in a very particular format and style that you can learn by looking up a sample press release and following the models you find.

Key to a proper news release is a journalistic tone relatively objective and factual, rather than sales-y. Your news release has to come across as if a reporter, not an advertising expert, wrote it. In the headline and body of the release, strategically include the words and phrases by which you want to be found.

After writing the news release, use a distribution service to get it into G’s News. These services can get your material out there and noticed quickly.
Posting the release on your own site is also a good idea, but it’s not what gets your material into G’s News.

From what I’ve observed, G’s News keeps stories and releases live for 2-4 weeks. To get found in G’s News, twice a month would therefore be the minimum frequency for distributing news releases. Do it more often if you have a variety of keywords by which you’d like to be found.

The author is the owner of an established plumbing business. He writes articles on consumer information / protection , business in general and home improvement.
For more FREE INFORMATION visit hereandhere thank you!

[tags]advertising,business,small business,entrepreneurship,pay per click, PPC[/tags]

Visit just about any blog of a high-priced naming consultant, and they’ll tell you with oracular confidence that a business name, to succeed, must be X, Y or Z. This is bluster. It is a branding statement of their own, arguing for the kinds of company names they like to create and against the kinds of company names they personally look down on. Such rules are not a valid-for-every-situation fact.

The naming “must” you’ll encounter most often is this one: A Good Business Name Must Be Bold. It must make a statement. It must stand out. It must call attention to itself.

Yes, that’s often a good idea, especially for a new operation that needs to earn publicity, word of mouth and market share. But not always. Consider a community bank that is expanding into new territory, across a river that to residents marks a mental boundary.

Its number one concern is whether or not its current name encompasses the new geographical area in residents’ minds. If not, they may be looking for a new name that provides continuity with their current name yet includes the locations where they’re opening new branches. Boldness is nowhere on this bank’s list of naming criteria.

Indeed, it’s a rare bank that goes for, or should go for, a bold name, one with emotional impact and shock value. Much more important for banks is engendering trust. Other goals might be emphasizing rootedness, history or connection. Banks - and many financial services companies - need different naming criteria than a footwear company or an adventure travel firm.

It might surprise you to know that I have had clients hire my naming company wanting a name that didn’t stand out. In one case, a financial advisor was moving to a new city and wanted a company name that would blend into the background, not attract any attention and make people assume he’d been doing business there
forever.

I encourage you to wipe the slate clean of what you’ve read or heard and think first about what you hope the new business name you are looking for will accomplish. Do consider guidelines and “musts” because they point to naming factors you might otherwise overlook. Don’t let your goals get overruled by someone else’s branding agenda.

Don’t be intimidated into looking for or accepting a company name that can’t take you where you want to go!

Branding Your Business

In today’s image-conscious world, branding has never been more important. If you are able to tap into the Zeitgeist, you will be well on your way to success.

Walk down any high street and take note of ten household brands. What style have they chosen for their logos? What image does the logo project? Your business may never need to appear on the high street, but imagine if your brand is eventually just as powerful and recognisable to the casual onlooker.

Creating a logo and a name for a business are closely connected and should really be decided upon at the same time. Remember, your business name and logo will become your brand.

There’s always a rush associated with launching a new business, often because there has already been a financial outlay and you need to get to market as soon as possible to recoup, or because you fear that someone else might be about to launch a similar business. Either way, you simply cannot rush the creation of your logo.

Do not be tempted to use one of the pre-designed (copyright-free) logos you can find in computer design software. Even if it is only supposed to be a temporary measure, people who see this logo may recognise it as not your own creation; even if they don’t, they will probably think that it looks a little tacky.

Don’t forget, the people you will be meeting during the creation of your business will be people or companies that you are hoping to have a long-term relationship with, such as your suppliers, customers, solicitors, accountants, investors and the bank. Of all the people that you will be dealing with, these should be the most important in terms of creating the right
impression.

Don’t sell yourself short so early on. Pay the fee and have a designer create your logo; they may not be particularly cheap, but good designers are worth their weight in gold.

When considering a design or briefing a designer it is important not to insist on too many boundaries. Although you might have a very clear idea about how the brand should look and even the colors or fonts to be used, make it clear that you would like to see any other ideas the designer might have.

The results will be strange, exciting, worrying and sometimes amusing, but what this exercise shows is how brands elicit powerful reactions in people. Use focus groups and informal market surveys to see how people feel about your logo. The more people you can find to comment on the designs for your logo, the better. It will quickly become apparent which one will work best to project the image that you want.

Another consideration when designing your logo should be whether it is suitable for all media. Although you may not intend to launch a website for your business, you should still find out how your logo would look at the top of a web page. Would the logo work on a TV screen or on an enormous advertising board in a big city?

If your staff are going to wear uniforms, or if you plan to issue company T-shirts, is the logo transferable onto clothing? Does the logo work for you when it is very large, or very small? Ask your designer to work with a range of color and also to create a version using only black and one other color. Sometimes simple colors work best and if you use a whole rainbow of colors in your logo it will cost a lot more to reproduce. Full color letterheads, business cards and adverts are considerably more expensive than two-color versions.

But don’t lose sight of the main goal - you are creating a brand that you want to be stunning, instantly recognisable and with the potential to become synonymous with your business. If it costs a little extra to create the sign above the door because you simply have to have aquamarine blue, so be it. If you are able to tap into the Zeitgeist, you will be well on your way to success.

Walk down any high street and take note of ten household brands. What style have they chosen for their logos? What image does the logo project? Your business may never need to appear on the high street, but imagine if your brand is eventually just as
powerful and recognisable to the casual onlooker.

Creating a logo and a name for a business are closely connected and should really be decided upon at the same time. Remember, your business name and logo will become your brand.

There’s always a rush associated with launching a new business, often because there has already been a financial outlay and you need to get to market as soon as possible to recoup, or because you fear that someone else might be about to launch a similar business. Either way, you simply cannot rush the creation of your logo.

The author is the owner of an established plumbing business. He writes articles on consumer information / protection , business in general and home improvement.
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