Entrepreneurship! LOVE IT!!!! I find myself surrounded by business owners and/or those aspiring to go into business for themsleves. I can respect that. I cannot respect. however, that I come across many individuals that try to take the cheapest easy way out when it comes to the presence of their businesses. Your presence is everything. Many times before people will patronize with you, they will first analyze your work, portfolio, bunisness cards, website, etc. It's important to be mindful that FIRST impressions are always LASTING impressions. When you opt to take the easy and/or cheap way out, It's quite noticable, and a lazy presentation can defintely BREAK your business and leave your list of clients at a BARE minumum. There should never be any point in time where anyone should look at your business cards, logo or website and know that you are a small business. Your look should be so clean and professional that they are SHOCKED to find out how "small" your business really may be.In order to generate the maximum results from your business, you must be willing to invest in it. Entrepreneurship is a ongoing learning process, and we are all in this together right? I'd like to share some pointers that I hope will enhance many of our businesses in regards to how we present it to others.
Stay in your lane:
Logos:
Your logo has to be THE most important aspect of your business. It represents you when words and services cannot. It's the thing that people remember whether it's on a card, site,or at the bottom right side of a commercial. Your logo is the most lasting aspect of your business. That being said, it's quite worth the investment. So many of us try to create our own logos and they are WACK! Sometimes I glance at logos like "eww. that's so cheezy. i would never patronize with that business". Probably a bad attitude to carry. But I say that to say that if you don't take your business seriously, neither will others. Even people with a basic eye can tell the difference between a professional logo and a cheap, cheezy one. They may not be able to tell you how or why it's professional, but THEY KNOW. Invest in your logo. Shop around for the best rates, and just opt to hire someone because they can give you a cheap rate. Check out their portfolios. Get client feedback. Do your research. When you finally hire someone, ALLOW THEM TO STAY IN THEIR LANE. I deem myself as darn talented and intelligent individual. I am very much so capable to creating logos. I spent years creating my own because I could.. #FAIL. I look back at them now like "What the heck was I thinking?! Ewww why didn't anyone tell me that my logo sucked?!" The most "intelligent" thing I did was bring on eyes of experience and expertise. MASS difference. I allowed him to stay in his lane, I remained teachable and open-minded..and the clients? FINALLY took me seriously and not just as this young kid who thinks she's a business owner. Don't go barking out commands speaking on something you know NOTHING about. The infamous logo quote "That's too plain!". Sometimes less is more.. Actually most times. Do your research. Check out the logos of the world's most successful businesses. They are not these big, busy, colorful logos that look like a circus. They are quite simple. Generally no more than about 3 colors, and they in some way have some type of shape and order to them. YET they are successful, and their logos are memorable.
Business Cards:
The first things that we opt to give individuals that we meet are our business cards. Although I believe our digital savvy generation is slowly but surely straying away from the business card era, cards have still proven to be the first and one of the most essential aspects of your business. One of the most popular business card sites primarily known for their FREE business cards is vistaprint.com. Vista Print is freakin awesome! There are a plethora of options and materials to choose from. The special that they run for the free business cards with the "free business cards at vistaprint.com" banner on the back?? Leave them there! or at least pay the small fee to upgrade and have the banner removed. There are only a few designs to select from, and the colors/designs are rather..hmm..WACK!!! It's worth the $30-$40 extra bucks to select an advanced design. It's also worth the extra money to pay your experienced designer to design one for you. Think about it: when you hand your business card out, you leave people with the only memory they have of your company and your services. They refer to your business card for your website, contact info, and in some cases your services. Leave a memorable impact. If you truly want to STAND OUT from the hundreds of business cards scattered on their desk, invest the time and money to make your business card one worth keeping. Expand on other creative options such as digital business cards, business cards in the form of a credit cards, etc. In fact, do a google search for "creative business cards". You will see tons of options that still get the point across without the boring and cliche structure of a "business" card. Be innovative. Be willing to invest. Reamin open-minded.
Websites:
We are now in an age where social networking sites such as facebook offer business/public services pages. THAT'S NOT A WEBSITE. Don't use it as such. Register your personal domain name, "yourbusinessname.com". It's only about $10 a YEAR. That's more than reasonable. Websites are extremely expensive and time consuming. There are many site builders out there that have recent, creative and innovative designs. Many of them offer free site building, but you have to include their name in your web address, and they get to advertise other businesses of their choice on YOUR site.. The site that should be promoting YOUR business. For example, wix.com is a very popular site builder. The templates are great, and you can have a site for FREE right? Right, but your web address will remain unprofessional. Instead of computerfix.com, you now have to do computerfix.wix.com. That site name in itself already screams CHEAP. If I was a consumer I would think, "Man, they can't even pay $10 to upgrade their domain name?!" In addition, when your costumers visit your FREE site they will become annoyed with advertisements and probably won't make it to check out your services. If you insist on using a site builder, at LEAST make the samll investments to make your website and personalized and professional as possible. Ultimately, it is best to have one built. Regardless of the option you choose, remember to be mindful of your presentation and your content. Don't just put up a site just to say you have a website. If you're going to have a site, provide information that will be helpful to potential clients. Tell them about the company. The goal of the company. The services offered. Prices. Contact information. Provide some type of portfolio or repertoire of your work. When a potential client leaves your site, they should be well informed of your company, services, and your work as this is the purpose of a website.
We must all take necessary steps to ensure that our company is represented at it's greatest state at all times. Your business is worth the time, effort, and investment. Don't miss out on quality opportunity or clientelle because you choose to take the cheap, CHEEZY way out :)
~Aleshia
