Independent small business owners need to plan and save for retirement like everyone else. This requires that you have enough money to for your provisions account was, but the problem often is how much is that in determining. The problem is further aggravated by the fact that it different pension for self-employed entrepreneurs returns - and each has its own limitations in terms of posts.
Instructions
1. Examine the various retirement plan options available. For self-employed, there are four main types of accounts. Each has its own benefits and maximum permissible contributions. The simple IRA, SEP IRA, solo 401 (k) and the defined benefit plan are the four main types of accounts available. The simple IRA, SEP IRA and solo 401 (k) are probably for most small business owners.The defined benefit plan should be used only if you have or have a significant amount of money to save for retirement. This plan is $195,000 maximum allowable annual contribution maximum of 2011.
2. create you each month can save you a budget, to determine how much money towards retirement. This can a major challenge and for themselves, because they have to fixed and variable business issues and have a good feel for how much excess liquidity that goes directly in your Pocket every month have. Create your budget on the basis of personal income you take away from your company.
3. A set target, a percentage of your money each month and keep it save. Commit the more you save, the better. If you don't know realistically how much you can put aside, set a minimum target of 10% of your income, and shoot for a higher number. A gate between 10 and 50 per cent should be owner feasible for most small businesses. Bodies, which at the end of the range best suits you to save your ability and store every month starting money.
4. Determine to plan retirement at best your needs as a small business owner is. You can your plan based on any number of different criteria how, when, and how they are taxed. Since you are trying to determine to save an amount, you should select a plan based on the contribution limit. This helps to establish you, how much of your own money to save. A simple IRA has a contribution limit of $11,500 for self-contributions, while the IRA can be stored to SEP up to $49,000. The solo 401(k) allows up to $49,000, but with the possibility of a deferral salary $16,500 for tax, plus another 25 percent of income comes.
5. The maximum contribution allowed by the plan you choose through 12 dividieren-- need to determine deposited each month to reach the maximum amount. Compare this number to your original destination. If it is lower than your goal, choose another plan or open several retirement accounts. If it is higher than your goal is increase your goal or your goal and the maximum allowable limit as a series of savings for every month to shoot you. This will gives you the ability to allow your savings as your finances.
Saturday, 5 May 2012
What Do You Need to Start a Business as a Dance Instructor?
Always a dance instructor and open a dance instruction company can a profitable company. Dance Studio owners have usually little overhead costs, apart from what they can pay for their installation and the associated costs, such as utilities. Starting a business as a dance instructor on either a part or full - time basis are made can, and requires a combination of dance training and business acumen.
Expertise
Knowledge classified dance instructors to the Bureau of labor statistics as self enrichment teachers. These are teachers, training in non-academic subjects. Dance instructor not necessarily those who a dance lessons companies need to open, but many, these types of companies have a strong knowledge of dance and work as trainers themselves. The Bureau noted that prerequisite for dance and other self enrichment teachers, that they should be experts in their field. With additional training in specialized areas of dance, such as such as salsa, can attract more paying students and to lend credibility to the statement that you provide. A Bachelor's or master's degree can also be far in this respect.
Studio
Although not absolutely necessary, in the business of teaching dance begin, have your own Dance Studio location, offer statement your company credibility offer. Dance studios is quite simple to prepare for teaching. These require usually a reception desk and a large open space for the provision of instruction, although with additional space for an Office can be also useful. Can you create your company by providing instruction in other directories, such as schools, gyms or community centers, until a significant list of customers started. After a Dance Studio will also require that you get required licenses and permits from your local community.
Marketing
A marketing plan is probably one of the biggest keys to success in this industry have, especially if you plan to wait to open your Studio. Dance students need to be aware of so that you can create a steady stream of income your services. You can use your teaching services market in a variety of different places, such as local classifieds, online classifieds sites, and online social networks. Networking with other professionals in the fields of can be a fertile source for potential customers, and good word of mouth is always the best advertising possible.
Capital
Unless you plan to your dance company outside of a Studio environment open lessons, you must get started some start-up capital. Realistically, you should your rent, utilities some research to determine, how much, and other expenses are for a whole year. You must also allows to the cost of licensing. If you are planning to open a certain dance franchise, you will have to get enough money for franchising fees, and all other requirements of the franchise must meet. Getting a small business loan you get from the ground may be the fastest way to raise more capital, the ones you need to get started.
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How to Market Your Small Business on Twitter
If you are not sure whether Twitter ousted soap operas as a time sink or offers some of your best ways to relations with customers to build and improve your business that can brand identity, the answer not surprise. Like all marketing media, or any medium that can be used for marketing offers Twitter results how carefully you approach it and how fully you participate in. Looking over by be to see Twitter ability to connect real people to opportunities, non-traditional appearance the your company-can transform a little at a time.
Instructions
Do
1. Remember that success on Twitter can build slowly, and that trying to hurry it by buying followers or using shady shortcuts doesn't work. As SocialMediaToday points out in a case study of hardball marketing run amok, "There is no magic pill, magic ticket or free ride to success in social media and business."
2. Be yourself. That means two things on Twitter. First, make your tweets sound like the cohesive voice of your business. If you're small, capitalize on your identity as a one- or two-person business and equate your size with a focus on treating customers like individuals. Second, even if you're bigger than a sole proprietorship, assign one person who's good at communicating your authentic value as a business to be your official and singular voice on the service. Keeping your participation real goes a long way toward attracting followers. As Twitter itself suggests, "Share photos and behind the scenes info about your business. Even better, give a glimpse of developing projects and events. Users come to Twitter to get and share the latest, so give it to them!"
3. Balance overt attempts to attract customers with tweets that convey your company's personality without making an obvious commercial pitch. When you do post a discount offer or a special sales event, your followers pay greater attention to it because you're not always explicitly soliciting their business.
4. Use your Twitter presence to gather more than customers. You can share insights with fellow business people, and even find opportunities to barter services, collaborate on a project with community implications, build a network of like-minded entrepreneurs or learn from veteran business owners. Use mentions and following strategically to build a position of authority in your field. Twitter recommends that you "Reference articles and links about the bigger picture as it relates to your business."
5. Think twice about following everyone who follows you. If you're using your Twitter timeline as a place to rub elbows with customers and suppliers, trying to keep up with a long list of people you followed only as a thank you turns your tweet stream into a raging river of who-can-read-all-that. If you do decide to follow back routinely, define whom you'll follow and whom you won't on the basis of attributes you can discern easily, then create original, non-automated thank-you responses in keeping with your focus on authenticity. As Mashable points out in an essay on the American Express OPEN Forum, "If you do decide to follow everyone, authenticity is key. Your followers will be able to tell whether they're talking to a robot or a person — and a real person is always more valuable on Twitter."
6. Leverage your plans for charitable giving into your Twitter strategy. Consider the relationship between Halo Pets, a holistic pet food company, and the twin websites Freekibblekat.com and Freekibble.com. Modeled on the FreeRice microgiving concept, in which visitors correctly define words to add small numbers of grains of rice to the total donated toward world hunger, these two websites donate small amounts of pet food to homeless animals in shelters. Visitors take a daily multiple-choice quiz, and right or wrong, their participation adds to the kibble donation.
New Twitter followers of the charitable sites trigger additional kibble donations, as do new followers of the Halo corporate Twitter account. Followers see discounts on pet food, previews of the daily trivia questions, and other informational and commercial tweets. The relationship unifies two congruent organizations in an endeavor that's consistent with both their goals, and gives the commercial enterprise added credibility for its visible commitment to a cause.
Don't
1. Avoid the "too-much-information," or TMI, phenomenon. If you overshare with your target audience, you may wear out your welcome. Never give your desired customers a reason to unfollow you. As difficult as it is to garner worthwhile followers, it can be many times more difficult to reacquire them, especially if they tell their friends why they stopped following you in the first place.
2. Don't bribe people to follow you. It's one thing to offer special discounts, one-time or longer-term, to your followers. It's another to post repeated tweets about how grateful you'll be for followers, or anything else that sounds awkward, desperate and just plain wrong. Ask yourself if you'd make the same pitch or solicit business the same way if you were on the phone or in the office with the people you're courting on Twitter. If the answer is no, don't implement the strategy.
3. Ignore messages -- formerly direct messages -- and tweets that ask specific questions or offer specific comments at your peril. If someone's taking the time to engage you on specific grounds that relate directly to what you do or what you didn't do, meet her halfway and learn something from how you're perceived, good or bad.
4. Be the powerboat, not the ocean liner. Ocean liners need lots of space and time simply to turn around and move in the opposite direction. Twitter's short, direct communications encourage and foster nimble abilities to move in new directions you weren't expecting to go. Listen to what your customers ask, and don't be afraid to change a bad policy swiftly in response to criticism, or continue a special offer if too few customers found out about it in time.
5. Resist the temptation to tweet about or at an event just because it's different to do so. Different killed the Edsel, a remarkable car with advanced features -- and a grille that looked like a chrome gourami. On a Network Solutions blog, Joe Loong describes five things you don't want people remembering you tweeted about, including two that involve life and death. You don't want to be the company that live-tweeted a child's funeral, or the doctor live-tweeting a kidney operation. Some things need not see the light of day.
6. Don't get into a back-and-forth defending yourself against an accusation of a deal gone wrong from a disgruntled customer who clearly gets more enjoyment out of visibility than you do. Take the high road. In the long run, it's far less expensive to maintain.
7. Sign up for Twitter to help build brand equity for your business, not to become a compulsive retweeter with nothing original to say. If your Twitter output consists of nothing but what other people think, your customers and prospects have no idea where you stand and every reason to suspect you don't, either. The occasional retweet can be a great way to show your agreement with an equally great idea, but think about how annoying “me-too” behavior can be in real life, and avoid being a digital bore.
Instructions
Do
1. Remember that success on Twitter can build slowly, and that trying to hurry it by buying followers or using shady shortcuts doesn't work. As SocialMediaToday points out in a case study of hardball marketing run amok, "There is no magic pill, magic ticket or free ride to success in social media and business."
2. Be yourself. That means two things on Twitter. First, make your tweets sound like the cohesive voice of your business. If you're small, capitalize on your identity as a one- or two-person business and equate your size with a focus on treating customers like individuals. Second, even if you're bigger than a sole proprietorship, assign one person who's good at communicating your authentic value as a business to be your official and singular voice on the service. Keeping your participation real goes a long way toward attracting followers. As Twitter itself suggests, "Share photos and behind the scenes info about your business. Even better, give a glimpse of developing projects and events. Users come to Twitter to get and share the latest, so give it to them!"
3. Balance overt attempts to attract customers with tweets that convey your company's personality without making an obvious commercial pitch. When you do post a discount offer or a special sales event, your followers pay greater attention to it because you're not always explicitly soliciting their business.
4. Use your Twitter presence to gather more than customers. You can share insights with fellow business people, and even find opportunities to barter services, collaborate on a project with community implications, build a network of like-minded entrepreneurs or learn from veteran business owners. Use mentions and following strategically to build a position of authority in your field. Twitter recommends that you "Reference articles and links about the bigger picture as it relates to your business."
5. Think twice about following everyone who follows you. If you're using your Twitter timeline as a place to rub elbows with customers and suppliers, trying to keep up with a long list of people you followed only as a thank you turns your tweet stream into a raging river of who-can-read-all-that. If you do decide to follow back routinely, define whom you'll follow and whom you won't on the basis of attributes you can discern easily, then create original, non-automated thank-you responses in keeping with your focus on authenticity. As Mashable points out in an essay on the American Express OPEN Forum, "If you do decide to follow everyone, authenticity is key. Your followers will be able to tell whether they're talking to a robot or a person — and a real person is always more valuable on Twitter."
6. Leverage your plans for charitable giving into your Twitter strategy. Consider the relationship between Halo Pets, a holistic pet food company, and the twin websites Freekibblekat.com and Freekibble.com. Modeled on the FreeRice microgiving concept, in which visitors correctly define words to add small numbers of grains of rice to the total donated toward world hunger, these two websites donate small amounts of pet food to homeless animals in shelters. Visitors take a daily multiple-choice quiz, and right or wrong, their participation adds to the kibble donation.
New Twitter followers of the charitable sites trigger additional kibble donations, as do new followers of the Halo corporate Twitter account. Followers see discounts on pet food, previews of the daily trivia questions, and other informational and commercial tweets. The relationship unifies two congruent organizations in an endeavor that's consistent with both their goals, and gives the commercial enterprise added credibility for its visible commitment to a cause.
Don't
1. Avoid the "too-much-information," or TMI, phenomenon. If you overshare with your target audience, you may wear out your welcome. Never give your desired customers a reason to unfollow you. As difficult as it is to garner worthwhile followers, it can be many times more difficult to reacquire them, especially if they tell their friends why they stopped following you in the first place.
2. Don't bribe people to follow you. It's one thing to offer special discounts, one-time or longer-term, to your followers. It's another to post repeated tweets about how grateful you'll be for followers, or anything else that sounds awkward, desperate and just plain wrong. Ask yourself if you'd make the same pitch or solicit business the same way if you were on the phone or in the office with the people you're courting on Twitter. If the answer is no, don't implement the strategy.
3. Ignore messages -- formerly direct messages -- and tweets that ask specific questions or offer specific comments at your peril. If someone's taking the time to engage you on specific grounds that relate directly to what you do or what you didn't do, meet her halfway and learn something from how you're perceived, good or bad.
4. Be the powerboat, not the ocean liner. Ocean liners need lots of space and time simply to turn around and move in the opposite direction. Twitter's short, direct communications encourage and foster nimble abilities to move in new directions you weren't expecting to go. Listen to what your customers ask, and don't be afraid to change a bad policy swiftly in response to criticism, or continue a special offer if too few customers found out about it in time.
5. Resist the temptation to tweet about or at an event just because it's different to do so. Different killed the Edsel, a remarkable car with advanced features -- and a grille that looked like a chrome gourami. On a Network Solutions blog, Joe Loong describes five things you don't want people remembering you tweeted about, including two that involve life and death. You don't want to be the company that live-tweeted a child's funeral, or the doctor live-tweeting a kidney operation. Some things need not see the light of day.
6. Don't get into a back-and-forth defending yourself against an accusation of a deal gone wrong from a disgruntled customer who clearly gets more enjoyment out of visibility than you do. Take the high road. In the long run, it's far less expensive to maintain.
7. Sign up for Twitter to help build brand equity for your business, not to become a compulsive retweeter with nothing original to say. If your Twitter output consists of nothing but what other people think, your customers and prospects have no idea where you stand and every reason to suspect you don't, either. The occasional retweet can be a great way to show your agreement with an equally great idea, but think about how annoying “me-too” behavior can be in real life, and avoid being a digital bore.
Sunday, 22 April 2012
Do Companies Really Need to Spend on a Good Logo Design?
A logo is a graphic design used by companies to promote their
instant brand recognition and brand themselves. A logo is a company's
identity. Given its importance and potential market exposure, the
designing and selection of a logo is nearly as important as the
company's name. It is one of the most important factors of marketing to
come up with a good logo with respect to the business. An effective
design should have a few different properties. It should most definitely
represent the main objective of the company. It is usually a good idea
to keep your logo simple and easily recognizable. A professional looking
design portrays a strong image of the company and adds to market appeal
to it.
Here are some of the main reasons highlighting the importance of designing a good logo.
1. Get yourself Recognized
Logos are designed to be the "face" of a company. They are a graphical display of a company's unique identity. Using colors, images and fonts, they are designed in a way that they are both, instantly recognizable and linked to the company's identity. They are also a way of referring to the company in advertising and marketing materials. It is very important to design a logo keeping in mind that whenever a customer looks at it, he/she should be able to instantly recognize it and link the design to the company.
2. Reinforce your business' identity
A company's logo is their identity. Hence it should be unique. When designing a logo it should be kept in mind
that this graphical image is going to be used to portray the company nearly everywhere. All the customers, current and potential would use this image to link the products or services to the company. A company should design their logo in a way that it very clearly shows the company's identity. When people should see the logo, the only thing that should come to their mind is the company to which the logo belongs to and their products or services. A logo is an integral part of a company's brand and image building.
3. Keep it simple and look big
Logos should be unique and easily identifiable by potential customers. Although there are infinite choices for color, visual elements and typography, a logo should be designed in a way that it helps convey information about the company. It is generally a good idea that a company's logo should be simple. Simplicity is a major factor in designing a logo. This is due to the fact that a simple logo is easy to distinguish and remember. A simple design greatly helps the people to understand the logo, remember the company and also keep the logo in mind. Adding too many images, colors or different fonts might make the design complex. It may not be recognized by the consumers at all times or it might even be just too difficult to keep in mind. A complex logo is also hard to interpret and link it to the company.
4. Gain your customers trust and exhibit professionalism
A professionally designed unique logo can be spotted by the client even from a distance and it can easily register itself into the minds of the customers. It shows the potential customers that the company is serious about what it does. A professionally designed emblem and branding techniques can greatly promote and develop a company's image for the public, but on the other hand, an unprofessional or a sloppy looking logo can ruin the public image. A professional design always attracts more attention of the customers and it gives out the feeling of trust and reliability. If the customers start trusting a certain company, they talk about it with others. A customer praising the company to other potential customers is the best possible way of marketing. A high quality and professional looking logo will give out certain positive messages to the consumers which would be beneficial for the company.
Here are some of the main reasons highlighting the importance of designing a good logo.
1. Get yourself Recognized
Logos are designed to be the "face" of a company. They are a graphical display of a company's unique identity. Using colors, images and fonts, they are designed in a way that they are both, instantly recognizable and linked to the company's identity. They are also a way of referring to the company in advertising and marketing materials. It is very important to design a logo keeping in mind that whenever a customer looks at it, he/she should be able to instantly recognize it and link the design to the company.
2. Reinforce your business' identity
A company's logo is their identity. Hence it should be unique. When designing a logo it should be kept in mind
that this graphical image is going to be used to portray the company nearly everywhere. All the customers, current and potential would use this image to link the products or services to the company. A company should design their logo in a way that it very clearly shows the company's identity. When people should see the logo, the only thing that should come to their mind is the company to which the logo belongs to and their products or services. A logo is an integral part of a company's brand and image building.
3. Keep it simple and look big
Logos should be unique and easily identifiable by potential customers. Although there are infinite choices for color, visual elements and typography, a logo should be designed in a way that it helps convey information about the company. It is generally a good idea that a company's logo should be simple. Simplicity is a major factor in designing a logo. This is due to the fact that a simple logo is easy to distinguish and remember. A simple design greatly helps the people to understand the logo, remember the company and also keep the logo in mind. Adding too many images, colors or different fonts might make the design complex. It may not be recognized by the consumers at all times or it might even be just too difficult to keep in mind. A complex logo is also hard to interpret and link it to the company.
4. Gain your customers trust and exhibit professionalism
A professionally designed unique logo can be spotted by the client even from a distance and it can easily register itself into the minds of the customers. It shows the potential customers that the company is serious about what it does. A professionally designed emblem and branding techniques can greatly promote and develop a company's image for the public, but on the other hand, an unprofessional or a sloppy looking logo can ruin the public image. A professional design always attracts more attention of the customers and it gives out the feeling of trust and reliability. If the customers start trusting a certain company, they talk about it with others. A customer praising the company to other potential customers is the best possible way of marketing. A high quality and professional looking logo will give out certain positive messages to the consumers which would be beneficial for the company.
Four Biggest Mistakes That Cause You To Lose Your Clients
There are several common mistakes which almost all businesses (no
matter the size) make that cause clients to leave and move to the
competition. It is said that you should have a reserve fund to pay all
business expenses and costs for two years after opening it in order to
ensure company sustainability.
It might seem out of reach for you, especially if you're still in the growth stage of your business, but the truth is that it takes at least ten years for a company to become established; therefore it is vital that owner(s) take time, have unwavering perseverance and educate themselves as much as possible.
1. Keep an Eye on Both, Clients and Competitors
As a business owner you must pay attention to what their competition offers and how satisfied customers are. Assuming that your business has no competition or that your business will remain superior to the competition is a fatal mistake. Customers almost always have the option to do business somewhere else. Ensure that your company offers products and/or services of greater value than the competitors. Determine what your business provides that is superior to any other product and/or service and capitalize on this.
It is simple and quick to advertise your products and/or services in today's world. It is important to realize that it is just as easy for the competition to do the same. It is also simple for your clients to tell the world about their disappointment with your company in mere seconds. Determine what your company offers and how the consumer may benefit from this, then tell the world, through advertisements, especially on social media platforms.
2. Deliver on Your Promise
Another fatal error that most businesses make is to promise something that they cannot deliver. One simple, but excellent piece of advice is always under promise and over deliver when advertising. Make sure you detail your company's products and/or services in a clear and precise manner. You must not only exceed the clients' expectations, but consistently continue to do so. A business that clearly states what they intend to deliver and consistently does so will definitely keep more clients. Inconsistency can be the downfall of any company no matter how experienced the owners are.
3. Build a Strong Team
Weak team leadership can be the fall of a potentially winning team and the entire company. Anything that is worth creating must be constantly nurtured and must have a strong foundation. The foundation of a business team is you and/or the team lead. Any company's team must have strong leadership that constantly instructs, drives, and encourages them. The team must clearly understand what is expected of it and what goals it is striving to achieve during any given workday. Those companies that build strong, motivated, high performing teams are able to keep more clients.
4. Don't Underestimate the Power of Social Media
It is important that businesses keep up with customers' needs, desires, and degree of satisfaction. This is more easily done, in less time, than ever before due to the explosion of the World Wide Web. The internet and social media enable businesses to keep up to date with customer reviews, feedback, and opinions. Failing to understand the power of social media is a big mistake that causes businesses to lose clients as well as prevents them from getting more referrals. Most all businesses want to know how to get more referrals and keep them. Clearly detailing what your business will provide, consistently delivering on those promises, and knowing what consumers expect will result in numerous satisfied customer referrals.
It might seem out of reach for you, especially if you're still in the growth stage of your business, but the truth is that it takes at least ten years for a company to become established; therefore it is vital that owner(s) take time, have unwavering perseverance and educate themselves as much as possible.
1. Keep an Eye on Both, Clients and Competitors
As a business owner you must pay attention to what their competition offers and how satisfied customers are. Assuming that your business has no competition or that your business will remain superior to the competition is a fatal mistake. Customers almost always have the option to do business somewhere else. Ensure that your company offers products and/or services of greater value than the competitors. Determine what your business provides that is superior to any other product and/or service and capitalize on this.
It is simple and quick to advertise your products and/or services in today's world. It is important to realize that it is just as easy for the competition to do the same. It is also simple for your clients to tell the world about their disappointment with your company in mere seconds. Determine what your company offers and how the consumer may benefit from this, then tell the world, through advertisements, especially on social media platforms.
2. Deliver on Your Promise
Another fatal error that most businesses make is to promise something that they cannot deliver. One simple, but excellent piece of advice is always under promise and over deliver when advertising. Make sure you detail your company's products and/or services in a clear and precise manner. You must not only exceed the clients' expectations, but consistently continue to do so. A business that clearly states what they intend to deliver and consistently does so will definitely keep more clients. Inconsistency can be the downfall of any company no matter how experienced the owners are.
3. Build a Strong Team
Weak team leadership can be the fall of a potentially winning team and the entire company. Anything that is worth creating must be constantly nurtured and must have a strong foundation. The foundation of a business team is you and/or the team lead. Any company's team must have strong leadership that constantly instructs, drives, and encourages them. The team must clearly understand what is expected of it and what goals it is striving to achieve during any given workday. Those companies that build strong, motivated, high performing teams are able to keep more clients.
4. Don't Underestimate the Power of Social Media
It is important that businesses keep up with customers' needs, desires, and degree of satisfaction. This is more easily done, in less time, than ever before due to the explosion of the World Wide Web. The internet and social media enable businesses to keep up to date with customer reviews, feedback, and opinions. Failing to understand the power of social media is a big mistake that causes businesses to lose clients as well as prevents them from getting more referrals. Most all businesses want to know how to get more referrals and keep them. Clearly detailing what your business will provide, consistently delivering on those promises, and knowing what consumers expect will result in numerous satisfied customer referrals.
Silvia Pencak, also known as Magnetic Silvia around social media,
is the Brand Strategist specializing on small to medium business online
branding.
There are many misconceptions around branding, especially among small businesses and Silvia is passionate about breaking these myths and inspiring entrepreneurs at all stages of development to move beyond what's known and possible.
Just as branding goes beyond visible and helps companies touch their clients' hearts and turn them into fans and customers for life, Silvia takes your business from where it is today to where it can be.
There are many misconceptions around branding, especially among small businesses and Silvia is passionate about breaking these myths and inspiring entrepreneurs at all stages of development to move beyond what's known and possible.
Just as branding goes beyond visible and helps companies touch their clients' hearts and turn them into fans and customers for life, Silvia takes your business from where it is today to where it can be.
Does My Business Need Branding?
Simply put, your brand is the image of your business in the minds
of your customers. It is a perception of who you are and what you stand
for. Many experts describe a brand as a promise, an expectation that
the consumer has about your product or service. But the important thing
to know is that whatever the perception is, it is the reality for that
consumer and changing that perception can take time, money and a lot of
effort.
Indeed, we all have a mental image of the major brands out there whether it's McDonald's, Target, Buick or Kleenex. If I suggest that you think of laundry detergent, I'm certain a particular brand will come to mind. So what makes these brands so enduring, so easy to conjure up in our minds? It is two things: consistency and communication.
Let's take a hypothetical and typical small business - a hair salon. Now, most hair salons offer pretty much the same services - haircuts, blow dry, styling, color, etc. They might also offer manicures, waxing or even pedicures and some full-service salons offer massages, facials and more. So if Acme Hair Salon comes along and opens up in the neighborhood strip mall, just how do they go about separating themselves from all the other salons? How do they create a brand in the minds of customers?
We start with something called the UVP - the unique value proposition. Essentially, the UVP is what makes your business different from everyone else. You may have expertise in coloring hair, or doing wedding hair-do's, but whatever it is will form the core of your brand. Once you've determined what your UVP is, then you have to build your business around it. If hair coloring is your expertise, then make sure all of your staff are actually experts and can talk about it knowledgeably. Decorate your salon to show off your expertise and advertise it to everyone who comes in. You may even select a name for your business that reflects your UVP. This is the "communicating" part and it includes any advertising or promotion you do. Whatever your message is, it won't mean anything unless your customers hear it.
Next comes "consistency." You can't be the hair dye experts today and the wedding up-do experts tomorrow and the facial experts next week. If you are constantly changing your advertising message, logo, salon decor and even your staff, then pretty soon your customers will lose a sense of what your business is all about.
Let's get back to the big brands - McDonald's for instance. If you drove up to one of their restaurants and saw pink arches outside instead of "golden arches," you might decide not to go in. It would probably strike you as a fake version of the real thing. Or, if you went inside and all they served was tacos and burritos, you would be a little confused. The power of the McDonald's brand rests in the knowledge that no matter where or when you go there - whether it's in England, Russia, or right around the corner - you can buy the same hamburger made the same way with the same fast service.
One last thing: you have a brand already, whether you know it or not. Your customers and consumers in general have an image in their minds about you. The question is, is it the right one? Is it the image you want them to have about you? And if you're not sure, then this is a great time to get started on building the brand you want.
Indeed, we all have a mental image of the major brands out there whether it's McDonald's, Target, Buick or Kleenex. If I suggest that you think of laundry detergent, I'm certain a particular brand will come to mind. So what makes these brands so enduring, so easy to conjure up in our minds? It is two things: consistency and communication.
Let's take a hypothetical and typical small business - a hair salon. Now, most hair salons offer pretty much the same services - haircuts, blow dry, styling, color, etc. They might also offer manicures, waxing or even pedicures and some full-service salons offer massages, facials and more. So if Acme Hair Salon comes along and opens up in the neighborhood strip mall, just how do they go about separating themselves from all the other salons? How do they create a brand in the minds of customers?
We start with something called the UVP - the unique value proposition. Essentially, the UVP is what makes your business different from everyone else. You may have expertise in coloring hair, or doing wedding hair-do's, but whatever it is will form the core of your brand. Once you've determined what your UVP is, then you have to build your business around it. If hair coloring is your expertise, then make sure all of your staff are actually experts and can talk about it knowledgeably. Decorate your salon to show off your expertise and advertise it to everyone who comes in. You may even select a name for your business that reflects your UVP. This is the "communicating" part and it includes any advertising or promotion you do. Whatever your message is, it won't mean anything unless your customers hear it.
Next comes "consistency." You can't be the hair dye experts today and the wedding up-do experts tomorrow and the facial experts next week. If you are constantly changing your advertising message, logo, salon decor and even your staff, then pretty soon your customers will lose a sense of what your business is all about.
Let's get back to the big brands - McDonald's for instance. If you drove up to one of their restaurants and saw pink arches outside instead of "golden arches," you might decide not to go in. It would probably strike you as a fake version of the real thing. Or, if you went inside and all they served was tacos and burritos, you would be a little confused. The power of the McDonald's brand rests in the knowledge that no matter where or when you go there - whether it's in England, Russia, or right around the corner - you can buy the same hamburger made the same way with the same fast service.
One last thing: you have a brand already, whether you know it or not. Your customers and consumers in general have an image in their minds about you. The question is, is it the right one? Is it the image you want them to have about you? And if you're not sure, then this is a great time to get started on building the brand you want.
How to Start a Fashion Label: Getting the Edge
New York Fashion Week - who wore what during The Oscars, what
Vera Wang has for brides this coming spring, which America's Next Top
model wore Versace's creations better - if you've found yourself
constantly tuned in to any of the above, can accurately match the
designer to the star on the red carpet all the time or spend hours in
front of the mirror fussing over the details of your every outfit, then
you must have a passion for fashion. And if so, why not put your time
spent watching E! to more productive use? Start your own clothing line!
How to start a fashion label, you may ask? Though it may sound easier that it actually is, if you have the right mindset, the motivation and determination, you can start small and gradually build your way up to the top to compete with Jessica Simpson's celebrity clothing label!
Decide on What You Want to Sell
As with any business venture, planning and foresight are the keys to making sure your entrance into the fashion world is smooth as a runway and doesn't see you flat on your face. Make up your mind on how to start a fashion label: do you want to produce more high-end clothes of the limited-edition, special-occasion variety or are you catering more to the mass market who prefer utilitarian and versatile articles? If it's the former, that means you'll be selling less for more, but are clothes made of quality materials and are one-of-a-kind designs, tailor-made and coming from a small batch. If it's the latter, you can go for less expensive materials and can produce a lot more clothes for a bigger market.
Break Out Your Sketches and Designs
If you're a fashion fan, you should already have a couple of these stored somewhere or lying around your place, even if you're not quite the artist. Don't worry, you're not aspiring to be the next Van Gogh; all you need is a clear concept of how you want your clothes to look. A clothing line reflects your personality, so how you dress and what kind of style you like will always come out in your designs. The key here is to remember to show some individuality and unique qualities that will make people want to buy your stuff. Imitation is the best form of flattery, true, but you may come off as a copycat and rip-off if you're not careful on how to start a fashion label.
Know Your Materials and Manufacturers
Having designs and having memorized each gown Nicole Kidman has ever donned, you should by rights know your fabrics as well, along with the other items necessary in making clothes. Being able to differentiate rayon from chintz and shaft buttons from invisible zippers is an essential skill, as knowing the difference between an A-line skirt and a peasant blouse is. If you can't sew garments yourself, you should find yourself a good seamstress or manufacturer that charges reasonably. Bulk orders come cheaper, so if you have a couple of designs, you might want them all created at one time. To get the best deal, shop around for prices of fabrics, accessories and other materials and compare rates for manufacturers and seamstresses. If you begin with a few key pieces that are eye-catching and good to wear, you'll soon find yourself taking more orders and before you know it, you can even write your own success story on how to start a fashion label!
How to start a fashion label, you may ask? Though it may sound easier that it actually is, if you have the right mindset, the motivation and determination, you can start small and gradually build your way up to the top to compete with Jessica Simpson's celebrity clothing label!
Decide on What You Want to Sell
As with any business venture, planning and foresight are the keys to making sure your entrance into the fashion world is smooth as a runway and doesn't see you flat on your face. Make up your mind on how to start a fashion label: do you want to produce more high-end clothes of the limited-edition, special-occasion variety or are you catering more to the mass market who prefer utilitarian and versatile articles? If it's the former, that means you'll be selling less for more, but are clothes made of quality materials and are one-of-a-kind designs, tailor-made and coming from a small batch. If it's the latter, you can go for less expensive materials and can produce a lot more clothes for a bigger market.
Break Out Your Sketches and Designs
If you're a fashion fan, you should already have a couple of these stored somewhere or lying around your place, even if you're not quite the artist. Don't worry, you're not aspiring to be the next Van Gogh; all you need is a clear concept of how you want your clothes to look. A clothing line reflects your personality, so how you dress and what kind of style you like will always come out in your designs. The key here is to remember to show some individuality and unique qualities that will make people want to buy your stuff. Imitation is the best form of flattery, true, but you may come off as a copycat and rip-off if you're not careful on how to start a fashion label.
Know Your Materials and Manufacturers
Having designs and having memorized each gown Nicole Kidman has ever donned, you should by rights know your fabrics as well, along with the other items necessary in making clothes. Being able to differentiate rayon from chintz and shaft buttons from invisible zippers is an essential skill, as knowing the difference between an A-line skirt and a peasant blouse is. If you can't sew garments yourself, you should find yourself a good seamstress or manufacturer that charges reasonably. Bulk orders come cheaper, so if you have a couple of designs, you might want them all created at one time. To get the best deal, shop around for prices of fabrics, accessories and other materials and compare rates for manufacturers and seamstresses. If you begin with a few key pieces that are eye-catching and good to wear, you'll soon find yourself taking more orders and before you know it, you can even write your own success story on how to start a fashion label!
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