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Rave about the newest member of the Avenue East family

Introducing the latest addition to the Avenue East family: Lulu! Despite all the madness surrounding the launch of The High-Concept Brand Bible home-study guide, my husband and I made the time on the weekend to adopt this little beast on the weekend, when she decided that we were taking her home and made all the right moves to make us fall in love with her!

As you can well imagine, this 1-pound wonder has already become the center of attention and is proving to be quite the adventurer, despite the oh-so-innocent routine she's doing in this pic!

:: Posted by Jennifer McCay on Thursday, December 15, 2005 in Rants & Raves ::
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Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!

*sighs* It had to happen sometime. It could have happened anytime.

But it didn't just happen any old day -- it happened today, when we were working to get our new High-Concept Brand Bible launched.

So what was it that ruined my otherwise gleeful afternoon as I (mistakenly) reveled in the pleasure of finally having this guide on the market and relaxed, really relaxed for the first time in months?

Naturally it wasn't just 1 thing. Two nasties managed to plague the launch right from the start:

1) I sent an e-mail out to more than 5,000 people, and right at the top, where my database is supposed to automatically include the person's name, I included the little code in the wrong place in the file, so everyone got greeted as <$name$>. Don't you love being called <$names$>?

2) A tiny little image saved in a seemingly innocuous folder on our Web server wreaked havoc on the order page for the book. 5,000 click over to a page and then get asked for a password. Nice, huh?

Anyway, I've already sent my subscribers a big apology, and I do hope that that's all the damage control necessary in this situation because neither mistake was intentional.

But you know what? Even though I was pretty frustrated when I found out about these problems for a little bit because I was worried about upsetting my subscribers, this is a great day. Finally I'm able to help people the way I have wanted to for years (I dreamed of helping as many small business owners as possible for, oh, most of my big-business marketing career, and there aren't enough hours in the day to help half of the folks I'd love to be able to). And besides, I don't mind getting bad news about my own mistakes when the messengers are subscribers who are kind enough to take the time to share their concerns with me.

So in case you are one of the subscribers who suffered today at my hands :) once again, my apologies.

:: Posted by Jennifer McCay on Thursday, December 08, 2005 in Brand Bible, Rants & Raves ::
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FAQ about The High-Concept Brand Bible™: Will branding work for my market?

Since I announced the launch of my upcoming resource, The High-Concept Brand Bible™, I've been getting all kinds of questions about branding from my subscribers and clients.

If you signed up for the pre-launch list (send a blank e-mail to contactus5-134674@autocontactor.com -- you will find out how to save $100 if you order by Dec. 22), you received a brief answer to the question: My market -- and my clients -- are very unique. I don't understand why a brand would possibly help me get ahead.

My short answer to the list was:

This question gets posed to me repeatedly, and the fact is that while I understand that you feel strongly about this, it really doesn't matter what market you're in, it doesn't matter how competitive your niche and no, your clients are not different! The High-Concept Brand strategy that I teach you in The High-Concept Brand Bible™ is the same system used by companies like Nike, Sony, Apple ... oh, and by thousands of small businesses and micro-businesses such as health care consultants, financial professionals and, yes, marketers like myself.

You might think that, for example, my own service/publishing business has nothing to do with the devoted fans who buy each new set of Nikes that comes out -- but guess what? People are people and have a set of needs much like everyone else on the planet. You just have to know what they're looking for, and then brand your business accordingly!

But I don't feel that that does the question its full justice.

So brace yourself because I'm going to be more blunt than my mother raised me to be: :)

The brutal truth is, you can tell yourself that your market is special all you want. You can claim that your clients are not like other people's clients, that they won't respond to a powerful brand message, that they won't respond if you try to raise your rates, that they won't see you in a different light if you finally claim the expertise that you and your small business have in spades.

You can shy away from making a bold move to turn your business into a brand powerhouse based on the same principles as the big players do.

But the underlying cause of all this hesitation isn't about any "marketing truths" about your clients -- it's about your fears ... of change, of moving outside of your comfort zone, of succeeding.

Don't let fear dictate your marketing

We all seek out vendors because we have a problem that needs solving. And the easier that those vendors make our lives, and the more pleasurable our experiences dealing with those vendors, and the more that we see the value of working with those particular vendors, the more likely we are to go back, spend more and tell others about them.

Your clients are no different. We're all just human beings with the simple need of a solution to the things that challenge us in life, whatever they may be. We know and expect others to promote their businesses to us because they are in the business of making money or will go out of business far more quickly than we hope.

Telling yourself that you cannot expect *your* clients to handle a simple promotional slant to your communications with them is to say that you don't think your business is good enough, that you don't have a strong enough relationship with your clients to be able to stake your claim on success in the marketplace, plain and simple.

If I sound frustrated, it's because I am!

Time and again, I see business owners just like you sell themselves short when they could finally be succeeding. I'm talking about highly talented, even gifted people who aren't paid what they're worth because they have never attempted to show the world what they're capable of, what their products or services are actually worth.

And it's all because of an unwillingness or inability to lead, to risk upsetting a handful of overly sensitive clients while strengthening your standing among the rest of your clients -- and a whole lot of new prospects as well.

So let me ask you this? If I gave you the tools to lead the way with your brand, would you?

If you were given the chance to learn a step-by-step approach to figure out why your business is so special, to boost your confidence, to raise your standing in the eyes of your clients and prospects, would you take it?

Brand success is just around the corner

When you take the time to understand what clients are looking for, regardless of industry, occupation and personal likes and dislikes, you begin to see that each and every one of us can benefit from turning a "follow the leader" business model into a "leader teaches its following" High-Concept Branded™ business. It's just that simple.

When you take the time to lead the way, you pave a path for yourself and your business that heads toward the kind of success that gives you the money, time and freedom to do the things you want in your life. And it doesn't matter what size your business is, what type of clients you have, etc.

All you need is the vision to turn your business into a brand. And that is what The High-Concept Brand Bible™ is all about, folks: finding your vision, building from your business's strengths and taking charge of your business success from this point forward.

:: Posted by Jennifer McCay on Tuesday, December 06, 2005 in Brand Bible, Rants & Raves ::
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Why branding has *everything* to do with small business marketing

Again, a side note based on an ezine I subscribe to ... An expert marketer just weighed in on how ineffective branding is as a way of generating income for a business, and I felt the need to rebut such outlandish claims.

Your brand is the overriding theme of all of your marketing, from start to finish. It's what makes people choose your business over the competition, makes it simple to understand why you're special and makes the most of your company's biggest strengths in the marketplace.

Done right, your branding efforts make it much easier to market your business over time -- giving you the platform your business needs to serve as a solid basis for all of your campaigns and to keep clients coming back to you time and again.

What the experts call "branding" isn't branding

Every last one of the marketers I've heard "dissing" branding as a discipline are talking about the overly hype-ridden fluff that some "brand marketers" claim is effective in generating awareness of your business, but never gets a response. Of course that stuff is fluffy -- the marketing equivalent of the gooey marshmallow fluff you use to make Rice Krispie Treats, tasty in combination with something of more substance, but ineffective in and of itself. The "branding" that these experts are referring to are those silly ads in mainstream magazines and on TV that do nothing other than entertain a little and do nothing to generate a response.

But every brand marketer worthy of being called one (and I modestly include myself in that category) knows that a real brand is the foundation for everything else in your business, and in no way means that you can stop marketing yourself entirely the moment that you have outlined your brand identity. Marketing requires asking people to act, to buy, and it is the next step in the process after establishing a brand for your small business.

My upcoming manual helps people use a brand strategy as a means of strengthening their message to prospects -- and then use that strategy to market themselves more effectively. Anything less would be unhelpful and not worth the paper the book is printed on. But don't tell me that branding is useless -- it works for companies large and small all the time.

One last rant

With literally no exceptions, every single marketer who has spoken out against branding has done an *amazing* job branding himself or herself as an expert in a particular marketing field and works hard at keeping that reputation intact. You can't tell me that branding doesn't work because it sends work their way time and again. If they don't see branding for what it is, it's simply because they're calling it another name.

/rant mode off

:: Posted by Jennifer McCay on Thursday, December 01, 2005 in Brand Bible, Branding, Marketing, Rants & Raves ::
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Focus your brand message and get more sales!

[Originally appeared in Avenues to Marketing Success]

Imagine for a moment your average work day. Consider all the decisions you have to make, the types of problems you have to troubleshoot and that stack of stuff you just can't get to and keep setting aside for a rainy day.

If you're that busy, very likely so are your clients and prospects. After all, the world is more complex now and people are faced with more choices and decisions to make than ever before.

As a result, you need to think of ways to simplify your marketing message to make your clients' lives easier -- and literally almost spoonfeed them the reasons why they should choose you. If they don't know what you do or why to choose you, they won't. It's that simple.

In my upcoming marketing course, I will be sharing my comprehensive system to create a professional brand for yourself just like Avenue East does for its clients. Here's a sneak peek of some basic branding principles you should consider in order to make it easy for clients to say "yes" to you.

1. Carefully identify what you do for your clients.

Many business owners focus on the products or services they provide. Your clients are interested in what you do for them. Whether you sell products or services, outline the problems you help your clients solve.

2. What got you into this business to begin with? And why are you still doing it?

In the frantic day-to-day stress of the business day, it's easy to forget why you love what you do. Thinking about what keeps you going every day can help you figure out how best to communicate your marketing message -- and it will re-energize you so that you can put more power behind your message.

3. Analyze your competition.

If you haven't taken the time to take a look at your competition lately, it's high time you did. Examine the way they communicate their brand, their target audience (is it the same as yours?), the marketing tools they use to get the word out, etc. and see what you can learn from them.

4. What differentiates you from your competitors?

Are you actually different? Why? And if you're not different, you might want to focus on a slightly different target audience -- say, instead of all restaurant workers, only the upscale establishments in your area. Or you might want to brand yourself based on a benefit you've not considered before.

It has to be something that your clients also care about -- but you likely have something that makes you a much better option than the next business. What is it?

5. Summarize your brand message in a sentence.

Outline the problems you solve for your clients (see above), your ideal clients, and why you're different.

6. Include your brand message in all of your upcoming marketing campaigns.

Everything you do as a business sends signals to your clients and prospects. That's right, every single thing from your letterhead to your answering machine message to the look of your shopfront (if you have one, of course) lets other people know what your business stands for.

So what signals are you sending? Consider your:

• letterhead
• business cards
• tagline
• latest sales letter
• attire and that of your employees
• range of services or products
• the way you answer the phone

... and the list could go on and on!

When you concentrate on a single message for your brand, you will find that your clients better understand what you do and why they should choose you. If you can help make some decisions for them by creating a coherent brand for your small business, they'll appreciate you so much that they'll send business your way ... over and over again.

:: Posted by Jennifer McCay on Thursday, December 01, 2005 in Branding ::
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