Competition
is tough…
get BRANDWISE!

When it comes to building your brand, there are many areas to market yourself and your company - Business Cards, Websites, Brochures, etc., etc.. One area that sometimes is greatly overlooked is in your email signature. This however can be a very big mistake.

Nothing is more frustrating than wanting to give a client, partner or vendor a call and you are unable to find their phone number. This could be a missed opportunity if you get so frustrated that you decide to just give up and call someone else. If you do not have this person's business card, you are probably digging through old emails. If each email they send does not have a branded signature, you might be out of luck.

Ok so what items must you have in your email signature to build a strong brand by not only speaking the brand message, but making it easy for anyone to get in touch with you?

Here are the items we recommend for a strongly branded email signature:

1. Your Full Name - don't be casual here, provide your full name. How many Johns or Sarahs do you know?
   
   
2. Your Company Name
   
   
3. Your Company Address - people may want to mail things to you, make it easy on them. This also makes it easy if they are going to meet you at your office and need to search MapQuest for your location.
   
   
4. Your Phone Number - you can have one number or several depending upon your level or how often you are at your desk. If you prefer being reached by your cell phone, maybe you only put this number or at least put this one first.
   
   
5. Your Website Address - this is important make it easy on your clients or prospects to check out your site. Don't forget to make this a link so that it is easy to click instead of copying and pasting it in a browser, again think ease of use for the client/prospect.

1. Other Options -
   
   
   • Your Blog - it is important to promote your blog and this is a great missed opportunity for most companies.
     
     
   • Your Social Media Accounts - Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook. It is all about connecting and interacting with clients, vendors and prospects do not miss this chance to get more fans or following.
     
     
   • You Fax Number - depending upon the type of business you are in, this may be very important or not important at all. We rarely fax anything so we do not include this on our signatures, but if you are in an industry that faxes regularly then add this to the signature.
     
     
   • Your Tagline - this is a great place to reinforce what it is that you do and drive your brand message home with every email.
   • Toot Your Own Horn - If you or your company has just won some award or certification, you might also want to promote these things for a few months in your email signature.

If you use gmail or some other form of free online email software, you might want to check out WiseStamp. WiseStamp is great at building really solid branded email signatures. See the example below that was created in WiseStamp. We do not recommend using these free email since having a branded email like dale@getbrandwise.com is so much stronger than brandwise1971@gmail.com.

Dale Berkebile
Brandwise

8205 Camp Bowie West
Suite 206
Fort Worth, TX 76116

P:   817 . 244 . 0990
E:   dale@getbrandwise.com

W:  getBRANDWISE.com
 

Contact Me

Branding Blog - Are (printing) plant tours a strong sales tool?

If you want to make it easy for people to do business with you an email signature is a must have. We would love to hear your thoughts on either the struggles you have run into with people not using email signatures or other ideas on what you like to add to your email signatures. Just comment below to share your ideas.

Good Luck and happy emailing!

If you have been pondering what you need to do to make 2010 a highly successful new year, why not just become an expert in your industry. The end of the year is a time for reflection and a time to look at how to make the next year better. Do not, just do what you have always done- by the way this is the deffinition of insanity, just in case you were wondering.

Step up, take charge of your life, make something of yourself! Do all this by planting a flag on this mountain of knowledge you already have. 

I hear it so many times, companies are frustrated because they offer a better product or service than their competitors, but are still falling behind. What is the cause of this?

YOU ARE THE BEST KEPT SECRET!

If no one knows how much better you are than you competitors, you are doomed. Take action now. Decide that you've had it and you are going to do something different this year. This is your year to shine!

One way to do that is by getting the word out. I know you are thinking… "How much is this going to cost us?". Well the funny thing is it is already costing you a bundle. By not doing anything, you are loosing your shirt to the competitors.

One way we recommend getting the word out is through blogging. The premise behind this is writing remarkabe content on a regular basis. Unloading all the tips and tricks that you know, all the knowledge you have gathered over the years. Share this remarkable content to help others understand what you know and how to get started using your product or service. Over time this type of system is going to start setting you up as an expert in your industry. All this takes is the time you put into it.

Once you start developing this remarkable content you need to get it out to as many people as possible - the marketing term for this idea is expanding your reach.

The goal is to reach more people,
more often with this great content.

You can do this by using social media as your promotion tool. You post your blog articles and then promote them on your social media sites (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). 

In as little as 3 months you will start to be known as a leader/expert in your industry.

People will start to notice that you are very smart, that you are very active and people will start coming out of the woodwork to see just what you are doing because you are very busy and showing up everywhere these people are turning.

People want to associate themselves with successful people so you will very quickly start to build a following.

So what are you waiting for get out there and become the expert you know you are.

There are many free things you can do to unleach the expert within, but depending on your available free time, sometimes it makes more sense to set up a system that help you manage all this stuff in one place. If you would like help unleashing your expert give us a call at 817-244-0990 or click here to learn about how Brandwise helps you become an expert in your industry.

I have noticed recently that the term personal branding is being thrown around all over the social networking sites. So what does this actually mean?

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about Personal Branding:

Personal branding is the process whereby people and their careers are marked as brands. It has been noted that while previous self-help management techniques were about self-improvement, the personal branding concept suggests instead that success comes from self-packaging. Further defined as the creation of an asset that pertains to a particular person or individual; this includes but is not limited to the body, clothing, appearance and knowledge contained within, leading to an indelible impression that is uniquely distinguishable. The term is thought to have been first used and discussed in an 1997 article by Tom Peters.

Personal branding often involves the application of one's name to various products. For example, celebrity real-estate mogul Donald Trump uses his last name extensively on his buildings and on the products he endorses (e.g., Trump Steaks).

So, why is this so important or why should we care what Donald Trump does? Well chances are, many people could learn a lot about success by studying Donald Trump. I personally am not a big fan of Trump, but when it comes to business and personal branding, I am highly impressed with what he has accomplished.

Trump is a genius when it comes to personal branding. He puts his name on everything he touches. The key to this success though is you must only put your name on something that meets or exceeds your personal standards. Trump puts his name on top-dollar items which makes him seem top-dollar. As soon as he puts his name on a low dollar item his credibility is shot.

This is the same with personal branding for anyone. The goal is to be consistent and repetitive in everything you do, how you dress, how you answer the phone, how you send an email, how you write a blog article, and the list goes on and on.

The great thing is that just like a business a person can brand themselves. To be successful you need to be in front of people on a regular basis and doing things that people notice and that start to become known as "unique-to-you". Look at Paris Hilton. What has she done to be well known? She rocked the LA social scene and started networking with hollywood royalty, rockstars and the like. I'm not sure the any publicity is good publicity as Parris has experienced, however I know her by name and about a lot of her silly antics and I do not keep up with the gossip rags.

The point is this. If you want to get a better job, establish yourself as an expert, get better clients, then start branding yourself now. How do experts in this industry dress, either start dressing like the top people you want to be or buck the system and dress the opposite (Paris or Lindsay Lohan style). Start doing the things these successful people are doing and you too can be successful. Do what Donald Trump is doing, start putting your name on items you sell or promote.

If this is too much, why not start easily by creating your personal brand online in the social media. Start blogging and sharing your knowledge. Start interacting with others in your industry and or prospective job or clients industry. Set yourself up as an expert in this industry by sharing unique and interesting content. You too will start to build a following and the personal brand will start growing into the online version of Trump.

Here is a quick question we ask our clients and prospects and this will fit here as well. Are you brand wise?

If you want that dream job, dream client or whatever, you'll need to get brand wise! 

Good luck!