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Many people have a lot on their plate. They may need your help but do not have the time, energy, or skillset to do what you do best. That is where you come in. But, you need people to know that you can help them. A few ways to get your business in front of potential clients include: 1. Getting your company listed on local listings. Great places to start listing your business are Google My Business or Bing Places. And MOZ local is ideal for identifying, managing, and auditing your local listings. You can also get your business listed in industry-related trade publications. 2. Connecting with local media publications and stations. Think about new trends or insights relevant to your ideal target client. Then, pitch presenting them to local outlets. Local media won't know about you unless you make yourself known. And, some smaller media outlets are sources of information for bigger ones. You never know if this is a channel that can give your business traction unless you try. 3. Building an email marketing list. An email list can come in handy despite those who say not to worry about building one. With a list of potential client email addresses, you can teach people about your services. You can also share your expertise to build authority and trust. Even if someone is not ready to do business with you now, you never know when they will be ready. So don't be out of sight, and therefore, out of mind. Instead, start building your list by offering something of value in exchange for an email address. 4. Connecting with complementary businesses. Complementary businesses serve the same audience but don't offer the same service(s) you do. As a result, these companies can become great referral sources for new business. About 90% of new business comes from word-of-mouth marketing, including referrals. Therefore, you shouldn't overlook growing your business by asking your past and present clients to forward your information to their network. Create the email for them, so they don't have to do it, and ask them if they can share your crafted email with their contacts. 5. Paying for advertisements. Start with a small amount of money to test the effectiveness of each advertising channel. Don't spend more than $1,000 within a month to test advertising on as many channels as possible. Then, choose the one advertising channel that is giving you the most bang for your buck. Let the data decide which channel you are to put your time and resources behind. 6. Creating a great-looking website. Most business owners either do not have a website, or they have an old, outdated-looking one. But, according to HubSpot, 78% of people search online for a business's website when looking for a professional service provider. So, you need to make sure that your website looks up-to-date, modern, and professional if you want people to trust you. Think about it, when was the last time you trusted a company with a horrible-looking website. In Conclusion Getting new clients does not come without putting in the effort and investment. However, if you are serious about the success of your business, you will put in the effort and money to make it work.

As a former event planner with family members who are event planners, I have a special place in my heart for event planners. This article is for you crazy kids who look at people sideways when they tell you event planning must be so easy and so much fun. For you, I know getting more clients for your event planning business is much easier said than done, but it can be done. Here are some ways you can increase your client pipeline to reduce dry spells after creating your brand strategy. 1. Run social media ads to complementary businesses Think about the companies you partner with to execute an event. There are caterers, florists, bakers, DJs, photographers, and videographers. There are also A/V and furniture rental companies. These are great businesses with whom to build mutual referral relationships. And with social media ads, you can make complementary, local vendors aware of who you are and what your business can do without leaving home or your office. 2. Offer social proof People want to see the events you have executed in the past. So, your website needs to include a few things. You want to make sure you include testimonials and case studies. You also want to have a portfolio page on your website with pictures for at least three events you've managed. Before and after photos of the venues you've transformed would be a nice touch, too. Then, you want to take your photos, case studies, and testimonials and share them across social media. Don't just show your event pictures, but speak to the outcomes achieved working with you. 3. Get listed on an event directory Websites like Eventective, GigSalad, PartyPop, TheKnot, WeddingWire, BizBash, MeetingPages, and The Bash are just a few places where you can list your business. If you create a compelling message for your listing and deliver a website experience to follow that wows, you increase your chances of turning a click into a client. 4. Ask for referrals from your network Ask your family members and friends to help you promote your business. But, also ask past clients to share information about your company with their friends and family members. Ask periodically, as when you are out of sight too long. People will not readily think of referring you to people who need your services. Think of your ask as a way to help your clients do a favor for a friend. Why wouldn't one friend want to help another? 5. Target people likely to celebrate a momentous event. With social media ads, target: Newlyweds as they are likely preparing to wed. Local jewelers, as those ready to propose, are likely to visit one for an engagement ring. People about to celebrate their 40th, 50th, 60th birthdays, and beyond who like to throw bigger birthday parties. Women who have announced getting pregnant, as there are women who throw baby showers and related events before the birth of their children.

If you've ever been to therapy, which I hope you have because, why not? You know that perfectionism is not real. Nothing is ever perfect. Aiming for perfectionism, especially if you do not feel like you are or have enough, is bad. However, with your content, especially content within an email, you need to be polished if your brand strategy calls for it. An example of those who must aim at making few if any errors are those instrumental to making a plane operate. Individuals with this responsibility will check a plane over and then over again to ensure a safe flight for passengers because there are no do-overs if the plane crashes. There are also no real do-overs if you create and send an email with the wrong message or numerous grammatical errors. When managing an email campaign, you must double-check the content of your emails before delivering them. This tip is not to say that mistakes will not happen. But, checking over things like your writing reduces glaring errors. Once an email goes out, that's it. Sending a bunch of emails to your subscribers for a typo is not an option. The exception being if the error resulted in a broken link or misinformation. Steps To Reducing Typos So, to lessen typos, I check my content four times, starting with checking my content using Grammarly. After, I check my content with the Hemingway App. Next, I check my content with Microsoft Word. And lastly, I have my computer read my content back to me. If anything slips through the cracks after these four checks, I can't beat myself up too much because I tried my best. And grammar checks are essential, as frequent errors reflect poorly on your brand. Other Mistakes To Avoid + Apologizing Another mistake you want to avoid would be sending an email to the wrong list. Unfortunately, it happens, and all you can do is contact your email recipients to explain what happened. You also want to apologize to: Assure your list that you are taking steps to avoid future errors. If you've sent an email with the wrong information or broken links. Sending an email with either mistake could impact an entire campaign. So, you'll have no choice but to send a follow-up email with the correct information as soon as you find out about the error. The Beauty of the "Oops Email" To fix a mistake I made a few months ago, I admitted to my blunder with an "Oops" email. This is a perfect email to send if you've done something in error. People may think that you need a spectacular subject line for this email. But, I am here to say, "Oops! I'm So Sorry," worked very well. I think the subject line was respected because I was transparent. I was being human and had the guts to own up to my mistakes. But, a word of caution. Don't send the same email with the same subject line. How will people know you are trying to own up to anything? Tips on Writing The Oops Email The body of the 'Oops Email' should be different. It should admit the error with possibly with a bit of humor considering how serious the error. In my case, I provided an incentive for the person to stay on my email list. Anyone who didn't immediately unsubscribe was presented with 25% off a future marketing service. The Checklist You Need To Quality Check Your Emails Now, there are other mistakes you can make, but these are the main ones. And, I know I mentioned the importance of reviewing your content and delivery settings for your emails. But, here's one last tip -- create a checklist. Your checklist should include: Reviewing your content in The Hemingway App Reviewing your content in Grammarly Reviewing your content in Microsoft Word Reading your content out loud or having your computer read it to you Link checking Checking merge tags (or the tag used to auto-populate information into an email like first names). Checking that the appropriate list was selected. Key Takeaway The biggest entrepreneurial lesson I've learned is that you're always doing something wrong. The key is to catch mistakes quickly and fix problems fast.

Get Response, Sprout Social, iContact, MailChimp, and Constant Contact are all email automation clients I have used in the past. And for my business, I considered trying all platforms and actually used MailChimp for quite some time. But, more recently, I decided to subscribe to ActiveCampaign after it was referred to me by one of my former marketing professors. So If you are like me, wanting an enterprise-level email marketing automation system without the price tag, ActiveCampaign may be the right email marketing automation tool for you. There are four pricing tiers. The pricing tier I selected is the month-to-month payment of $15/month ($9/month for the year). Not bad, considering what you can do at this level. This level is called "Lite" and comes with unlimited email marketing. And, the automation available comes with some advanced functions, like being able to say what will happen if an action is or is not taken by the email recipient. For example, I can say that if someone watches a video embedded in my email but does not click, send them a freebie. Get Your 14-Day Free Trial of ActiveCampaign I can only speak to this level, and no, it does not include lead scoring or sales automation. You would need to upgrade to the "Plus" package for $70/month if paid monthly for these advanced features. Or, you can pay $49/month if you pay upfront for the year. This pricing would be for those with less than 500 contacts. If you have over 500 contacts, the pricing will increase. Now, back to what you can do with the Lite plan and marketing automation. Marketing automation in ActiveCampaign is pretty easy to follow. Only you can make it complicated as I did. I was overthinking the steps instead of taking a 1+2=3 approach. Not only can you create your own email drip sequence, but there are free ones you can download through ActiveCampaign. You can also share sequences with others that you create. A user can also create long email drip campaigns or short ones and prompt a new campaign from another one. For example, I've used the short campaign to introduce new subscribers to my business. For six days, I get people up to speed on who I am and what my company can do for them. Then after six days, I move email subscribers to an educational newsletter sent bi-weekly. You can have emails sent to subscribers based on their interaction with your website, too. And, as a marketer and business owner, testing and trial and error is a must. For this, ActiveCampaign allows you to test one email against another. This ability allows you to improve your email open rate over time by seeing which email subject lines result in greater open rates. Get Your 14-Day Free Trial of ActiveCampaign By the way, a tool I use to help with creating excellent subject lines is CoSchedule's Email Subject Line Analyzer. It's an email marketer's best friend. You should also test the time of day your emails get opened the most. And yes, there are reports for this. Once you see when your emails are getting the most love, you can tweak the scheduling of your emails, as small changes can make the most significant impact. Now stick with me. You are still getting all these automation perks at the "Lite" level. And here are some more! In ActiveCampaign, you can also set campaign goals, and the process is pretty neat. Setting goals lets you know how long it takes someone to take the action you want them to complete. This can help you send out an extra email or two to get a person to convert from a lead to a customer. And, of course, like other email systems, you can personalize the content. But, in ActiveCampaign, you can set conditions for the type of emails to go out and to whom. You can also tag contacts and determine what people will get in their inbox based on their tag. Isn't that the level of hyper-personalization we all want for our emails? Get Your 14-Day Free Trial of ActiveCampaign What I really like is that, unlike MailChimp, I have a little more control over sending the same email twice. Now, it is always smart to change the headline if you do this. But, I love being able to say: 'If this person did not open my email in seven days, send them the same one with a different subject line.' As for the email editor or builder, it is straightforward. The platform also keeps a record of your email templates. So, there's no need to worry about re-creating the same email template more than once. Therefore, ActiveCampaign is great for a business watching their wallet. It is also considered one of the best email marketing automation tools on the market. The platform can also double as a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. This capability is perfect for those who need this functionality. The only downside for me was the 14-day free trial. I really needed more time to see how I liked the platform, given my busy schedule. Also, after the free trial, the company will remove your information if you do not buy a plan. This does not make sense to me. Few people will go through setting up their automation and importing names with no intention of buying. I don't know any marketers or business owners that have this much time to waste. I especially feel like the information should not be removed if a prospect states they will become a customer. This high-pressure tactic is not the best. Other than this, I love the platform. If you would like to try out ActiveCampaign, give their 14-day trial a try! ActiveCampaign will not disappoint. And while you are in ActiveCampaign, be sure to check out all the integrations. There are just too many to list here.

Ever been asked what you want most for your business? Is not the answer always more money or more clients? With the ebbs and flows of new business opportunities, having clients in the pipeline is critical to long-term business success. Getting clients and growing your business takes "heart." It also takes the willingness to step outside your comfort zone, network, speak to the masses, and more. So what should you do? Here are some things you may not be thinking about doing to grow your business. 1. Send a quarterly email to one's contact list to get more leads. Quick question. Of the top 5 friends you have in your life, can you tell me what they all do for a living? If you can say what they do, then a round of applause is owed to you. But most people cannot. People don't always keep track of what others are doing in their professional life. So, do this. Create a freebie. Something informative or fun that someone of your target audience would enjoy. Tell your contacts that you have this freebie and that you would be willing to share it. Let them know you will share it with them to share it with someone who would enjoy the material. This way, you are not selling your business but proving your value. It's also a great way to make an introduction. 2. Dig your heels in on getting your family and friends on board because if you've got them, use them. Now, my first step said to email everyone. Next, you are to post on your own social media page, and not just your business page, about your business once a week. Also, text your friends and family members, asking them to share your social media posts and website on their Facebook page. If you are like me, people who are close are always saying they are willing to help. It is time to put them to work. 3. Reach out to complementary businesses, and establish a co-marketing relationship. Sometimes, it's not about whom you know, but who knows the people whom you want to know — you want to make friends with those people. For example, a website designer can partner with a brand strategist if they do not offer brand strategies. Your creativity would be the only limit to this marketing arrangement. Some great ways to cross-promote include: Guest blogging on each other's blogs. Sharing feature spots on each other's newsletters. Offering special promotions to the audiences of each other's businesses. The Bottom Line It is time to get savvier with your marketing. I hope this article makes you think of new ways to approach your business growth. I hope it reminds you always to be promoting and that you can tap your network in creative ways.

Since I am big on networking, I read this book, Never Eat Alone, by Keith Ferrazzi. The book was a great read about opportunities to network. From this book, I learned many ways to build my network, such as hosting a dinner, which I thought was a great idea. However, living in a small NYC apartment, I have always felt like my apartment is too small to host gatherings, and my pockets are not deep enough to pay for all the food my friends are bound to devour. Reading further, he specifically mentioned hosting a potluck dinner. As a woman with a small budget and high ambitions, this was the perfect solution for me, and as a nonprofit, you have to find the perfect solution to growing your network, too. Be Ready To Make A Good Impression The first step to growing your network is to get to know more people. But before you go out trying to make friends, you need to look polished. First impressions are important, even for a nonprofit. You can make a good first impression by making sure your owned media channels look clean, professional, and visually appealing. Your owned media channels include assets like your website, social media pages, mobile landing pages, etc. Some other things to consider are some interactive ways to engage individuals on your owned media channels. From Twitter posts to Hulu ads (paid media), you can encourage people to support your organization. Create a User-Friendly Website To start, one great way to interact with the public would be to develop a user-friendly website. Websites are the hub to your nonprofit’s mission, goals, and charitable dreams. When a potential supporter visits your page, they need to navigate your website pages easily, find information, donate with ease, follow you on social media, or register for an event your company is hosting. Here a few examples: CHARITY WATER FEEDING AMERICA HOUSING WORKS First Impressions on Social Media On social media, talk to your supporters and even those who do not support you thoughtfully and respectfully. Responding to the public online is a great form of engagement and makes a good impression on your donors and future supporters. However, if you really want to turn up engagement with your posts, it is best to use pictures or videos. It has been proven that people engage more with posts that have visuals than with posts that do not, as cited by Social Media Examiner. Keeping with pictures, you can use Pinterest or Instagram to convey your nonprofit’s story. Become a visual superstar! On Pinterest, create boards that tell a story about your nonprofit by visualizing campaign pushes, people or pets served, and more. On Instagram, there aren’t any boards, but you post as you would on Pinterest. However, I find Instagram to be a great place to post information about upcoming events. As a Millennial, I know I go to Instagram to learn about events I can attend. I hope this helps you grow your support base, engage with others, and take your nonprofit to new heights.

Many website builder ads exclaim how easy creating a website is. Such a lie. There's so much to consider when you are making a website. Websites must convey information and a clear brand personality to visitors while not overwhelming them with information while moving them to take action with presented content. You must consider how people read, the movement of their eyes across a screen, the best ways for them to comprehend information, and more. There is nothing simple about creating a website that does more than look pretty but converts visitors into interested consumers looking to work with you. Without a brand and messaging strategy, you are already starting on the wrong foot, but there's more to consider. Here are ten website mistakes that you'll be wise to avoid. 1. Creating Rotating Header Images With Text Studies show that you might as well deem the content on moving images non-existent. So, the next time you see a scrolling header image, see if you can remember any content on it without stopping it from moving. I doubt it. It is human nature to pay more attention to the movement than the message. So unless your message remains the same while the images are moving, you face an uphill comprehension battle. 2. Using An Under Construction Sign on Your Website If your website is not ready for the world, direct people to a social media page or create a short landing page to let people know a few things about your business and how to contact you directly. 3. Writing Long Paragraphs When you break up your paragraphs into 5-6 lines of text, it is easier for people to read and understand. So your goal should always be to make it easier for people to consume your content. How else will they learn from you and see you as a trusted service business? 4. Not Updating Your Copyright Year Outdated copyrights may make people think your company is not actively operating. For example, have you ever seen a website with the copyright year of 1998? If you did, what would your initial thoughts be about this company? Would you want these same thoughts applied to your business? If not, be sure to update your copyright year on your website annually. 5. Missing Call To Actions If you do not tell people what you want them to do on your website, the chances that they will do anything you want them to do will be slim. Ask people to take the actions on your website you most desire them to take, especially if you want to serve more people. Actions you can ask visitors to take include prompts to call, buy, sign-up, and more. 7. Missing What Your Company Does As soon as a person lands on your website, it should be clear how you can be of service to them. If a website visitor finds themselves struggling to determine how you can help them and why they should care, you will lose a prospect to another company that does a better job articulating its value proposition. 8. Missing Product or Service Benefits If what you offer isn't useful, it is useless. And what is useful about a product or service is its ability to solve a problem. Are you letting people know what problem you are solving for them? I am not talking about, for example, event planning helping to produce an event. Instead, I am talking about solving a problem like giving a marketing director time back in her schedule to market an event to hit her numbers rather than worry about the ins and outs of coordinating event logistics. This is an example of the types of benefits you should be speaking to on your website. 9. Writing Hard To Read Content Please don't choose a website design direction simply because it looks pretty or nice to you. One design direction that many love to use way too much on a website is light-colored fonts on dark colors, prints, or light-colored backgrounds. Going any of these directions with your content color will either strain visitors' eyes or lower their comprehension of your content. I know you don't want either of these things to happen because it will surely impact how well your website converts visitors into new leads you can potentially work with. You also don't want people to struggle to read your content because the words are too small.16px font and up, please. 10. Using a Long Domain Name You may feel that using a long website domain name that is explicit about what you do is a smart idea. It is not. Long domain names are hard to remember and type. Keeping your domain name short and simple will increase the chances of it being remembered. Don't you want people to remember your website name? So, no, your website should not be "thefabulouseventplanningbusiness.com." You should view your website as an investment in the future growth of your business. And you should invest in a website designer who has studied conversion rate optimization and website design. Someone who will focus on design and whether your website can turn clicks into clients using the guidance of a brand strategy.

If you care about your business, it will grow and evolve. This statement is true about Wix. Wix is a highly advanced website design platform and a favorite of mine, with VCM Strategies hosted on Wix. Wix is also great for brand stewards who do not want to rely on someone to update their website continually. Wix is also SEO-friendly, despite backlash from WordPress (WP) loyalists. Here is the thing, Wix is newer to the market compared to WordPress. Statistically speaking, WordPress would have more proof points over time that would present WP as the better platform for SEO. However, all data points in life can be misconstrued or positioned so that you would come to believe that Wix sorely lacks behind WordPress when it doesn't. The Wix SEO Wizard For those wondering, Wix provides all of its customers with an SEO Wizard. It is highly intuitive, allowing you to get listed on Google's search engine with ease. In addition, Wix provides you with a checklist to meet all of Google's website requirements for being listed on its search engine, including the ability to add keywords to help you get found online. You can also add JSON-LD Structured Data or JavaScript Object Notation. According to Wikipedia, JSON-LD is a very common data format with a diverse range of applications, one example being web applications that communicate with a server. And according to Google, "structured data is a standardized format for providing information about a page and classifying the page content; for example, on a recipe page, what are the ingredients, the cooking time and temperature, the calories, and so on." Essentially, this structured markup makes it easier for Google to index the content on your website for platforms like Google. According to Google, once you finish the Wix SEO Wiz, a person can find your website on Google within seconds. Mobile-Friendliness of Wix The mobile-friendliness of a website is vital to a website's ranking too. Since 70% of online searches are mobile, Google wants its users to have a great online experience from their platform to your website. So, you'll be happy to know that Wix lets you customize the mobile experience you can offer to your website visitors. In the backend of Wix, you can see how your website will look on mobile devices and restructure your mobile site to improve the quality of the mobile experience you offer to visitors. For example, you can edit colors, font sizes, the mobile menu layout, more deeply optimize for mobile, and so much more. Changes to your mobile site on Wix in no way impact the look and feel of your desktop site. And how do mobile sites rank? Great, if not better than, other website platforms. So, Can You Rank Well on Wix? In short, yes, you can rank well on Google's search engine using Wix as long as you have taken the time to do your keyword research and are employing SEO keyword strategies to rank higher over time on Google or any other search engine. To date, those who have stated that they do not trust how well their website will rank on a search engine using Wix cannot show me sound data to support their case. Advancements are happening every day in the tech space. It would be wise not to write off any platform that you see making strong strides to compete in the market. They are top competition to WordPress for a reason. Don't base your decision on which website design platform to go with based on information from over two years ago.

So, you've worked long and hard on your website, or you found someone else to do it, and then you find out someone else re-created your website. Stole everything! And I know you want to hunt this person down and give them a piece of your mind. But, before you call the cops, here are some things you can do to try reclaiming your content. Some ways are easy, while others are more advanced. Just remember that I'm not a lawyer, and if you need legal advice, don't hesitate to get in touch with a lawyer. 1. Take Screenshots Don't contact the person who duplicated your site at first. Instead, take screenshots as a record of what they've done. You can also use the Wayback machine to see what your thief's website looked like before looking like yours. Then, take screenshots of your website as proof of the work you've done on your website. 2. Contact the Plagiarizer With proof in hand, you need to ask the copycat to take down what they have stolen from you. To find who this person is, you can visit "WHOIS.net" to see if their contact information is listed for "their website." You can also find out if they have their contact information on the website they've "created." 3. Contact the Host of the Server You can also contact the server host and ask them to take the site down. When you look up the contact information for the website owner using WHOIS.net, look under the "Network WHOIS" for the "NetName." Make sure to contact the server host by email to keep a digital paper trail. Keep your email professional and demand what you want to have done. No need to tell them how pissed off you are. And, if this doesn't work... 4. Take it to Google There's something called the Google Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Submit a DMCA request to Google asking for the removal of the copycat site from their search engine. You can ask Bing to do the same. But, there is a caveat. To get the site removed through Google and not just have the site not appear on their search engine, you have to pay $199 for a DMCA takedown. 5. Get a lawyer! You will want a lawyer to issue a "cease-and-desist" letter to the copycat or hosting company, which will cost you about $200. If the letter doesn't work, a lawsuit is an order, making hiring a lawyer for this matter the most costly and time-consuming. But sometimes, this is necessary, especially for large websites. To Protect Yourself In The Future To significantly lessen the chances of this tragic event happening to you: Take any weird website activity seriously. Get alerts for any use of your blog post titles using Google Alerts. Search for content in quotes you've written that you believe sound uniquely like you online. Doing this is a great way to find stolen content. Use Copyscape to search for website pages that may have duplicated yours. Just know that for free, you can only search for one website page at a time. Get DMCA Protection for free or for $10 a month. Put a copyright statement on your website with the current year. At the same time, know this -- if your content is online, people can take it. And sometimes, the person who is the copycat is a website designer. So, be sure to ask your website designer for a guarantee that your text is original. Then, get this put in writing so that it is legally binding. Question Has this ever happened to you? If so, please share your experience with our readers as to how you handled this. #websitedesign

Progressive Insurance hit it big! They hired improv comedian and actress Stephanie Courtney in 2008. Stephanie plays the super helpful Progressive Insurance expert named ‘Flo’ on TV commercials. Introduced to the American public in 2008, ‘Flo’ shows staying power. She also meets the six criteria for choosing a brand element. And, she connects so well with the public that her presence has grown company profits. “MSN homepage visitors who saw Flo’s banner ad were twice as likely to visit Progressive.com. 2.4x as likely to search using the term “Progressive” in the week after seeing her ad.” Below is a detailed breakdown of how ‘Flo’ has uplifted the Progressive brand based on Kevin Lane Keller’s brand element criteria. You will learn the six keys to creating or choosing a brand element (logos and more) from this example. Choosing A Brand Element How ‘Flo’ Is Supporting Progressive Success In Detail. A Brand Element Must Be Memorable Progressive’s character ‘Flo’ is memorable for both good and bad reasons. Some find the character to be quirky, amusing, creative, hip, and fun. But, others find her character to be irritating and creepy. Some go as far as to say weird, sterile, dorky, and annoying. Either way, the emotional responses from the public make her character memorable. ‘Flo’ is also memorable because Progressive consistently uses her for their ads. She has been a spokesperson for years now. Now, most “undoubtedly associate her with Progressive Insurance.” To make sure your brand is memorable, make sure that you give your brand a personality. A Brand Element Must Be Meaningful Progressive uses the character ‘Flo’ to promote the company’s products and services. They want customers and prospects to know that the company will listen to their needs and passionate about its products. And that it will save customers money with customized solutions. These are the messages created by Progressive, conveyed through ‘Flo,' appealing to those who want to buy insurance. Hence, the brand position being pushed - Progressive makes the car insurance processes a “more heavenly” than “hellish" experience. Does your brand have meaning? A Brand Element Must Be Likable ‘Flo’ is relatable. She is approachable, people know who she is, and they connect with her. Your brand must be likable, too. Through ‘Flo,' Progressive has been able to “portray itself as a fun, likable brand.” Because ‘Flo’ is an “incredible improvisational comedian,” she is also liked because she is funny and charming. People like ‘Flo’ so much that they talk to her persona on social media as if she were not a corporate mascot. A Brand Element Must Be Transferrable Although ‘Flo’ is an American actress, her character has been somewhat interchangeable, as your brand should be. At first, ‘Flo’ was dominant on TV. But, Progressive was determined to make her more visible. So, they use her character on their website, social media channels, mobile apps, and more. Also, there are now versions of Progressive’s Flo in other countries, such as Australia. But, they are more like Flo’s family members who maintain a similar style and look. For example, the ‘Flo’ of Australia is ‘Kitty,’ Flo’s cousin. A Brand Element Must Be Adaptable Over the years, ‘Flo’ has evolved, with her character becoming “more modern and more relevant.” Progressive built new environments and characters around her to keep the content fresh. Progressive also gave “the commercials a different and more natural feel.” If your brand is unable to adapt to changing times, you will soon be irrelevant. We don't want that. So, audit your brand annually to avoid this from happening. A Brand Element Must Be Protectable Based on advertising law, ‘Flo’ is protectable. She is also a copyright-protected brand element because she is essential to Progressive’s advertising campaign. And, while trademark law can protect the different versions of the character, copyright protects the persona. In other words, you can prevent a competitor from using a very similar character. Protect your brand. But, Will Flo Compromise Progressive's Progress? No. But, all good things come to an end. 'Flo' will get too old, or the viewing public will tire of her. Retiring her will force Progressive to find a new spokesperson. But, this would be at the risk of losing the momentum 'Flo' has brought to the campaign. “The evidence that Progressive is hedging its bets against Flo emerged in 2010, when the company and its ad agency, Arnold Worldwide, introduced a new spokes-character(s). Yet, until she loses momentum, Progressive CMO Jeff Charney says, “Flo is not going anywhere.” However, this should be a serious consideration for your brand. These are the drawbacks of having a person as your spokesperson. Question Starting with criteria number one...how is your brand meaningful? P.S. This post is not sponsored...I just like Flo. :-) #graphicdesign #brandbuilding

Sometimes, creating content makes you want to pull your hair out of your arm one strand at a time. Developing content about a topic you are passionate about seems like it should always come easy, but sometimes you face mental blocks when it comes to being a creator. So when I found myself creatively stuck a few weeks ago, a mentor told me some things to do to help get my creative juices flowing again, and I want to share them with you. 1. Chop It Up With Friends And Family Sometimes, casual talks with your inner circle can help with creativity roadblocks. Everyone in your circle, from close friends to your teenage cousins, experiences life differently. They all may have unique, creative ideas they can share to help you out. For example, I have some family members and friends who are incredibly witty. Others "have no filter." But, to me, their ability to think on their feet is a true testament to their creativity level. I also occasionally like to talk with strangers, in safe spaces, of course. Many of the ideas I've developed upon over my career came from random conversations started on the train, at restaurants, or at events while networking. But for the most part, it is all about asking questions of those around you. 2. Listen To A Podcast When you're busy, and on the go, podcasts can be one of your best resources for creative ideas. Listen to podcasts focused on life, creativity, or marketing. Books, creative websites, and podcasts can spark creative ideas, too! 3. Create A Swipe File Having a "swipe file" does not mean you're swiping other people's ideas and content. Instead, a swipe file is intended to help you look at new possibilities for the work you're doing. When you find great content, images, websites, and more, organize your 'Bookmarks' folder into a digital filing system and save what you find instead of trying to remember what site you were on. You don't want to forget where you saw something you knew could help you throw more creativity into your work. Remember, even Picasso mirrored the work of others before creating original artwork. And creating a file of creative works you can reference is not just a suggestion but what marketing pros do. 4. Explore Freeform Writing On my nightstand, I keep a book. I would hate ever to have a great idea and then forget my idea if too much time passes. I even take this book with me when I travel. You may think that this book should only be used for your ideas. It shouldn't. This book should be used for creative expression in its many forms, from drawings to words of wisdom. 5. Free Your Mind From Everything Sometimes it's hard for ideas to come together. Clear your mind by stepping away from a project to meditate or take a walk. And I get it. Some people say mindless activities help. Try it. When your mind is relaxed, it does release dopamine, which can increase creativity. When I first started in marketing, my supervisor encouraged me to take walks every so often to help clear my mind and think more creatively. 6. Practice Taking Creative Risks At Work ​​Let's look at Pixar. They do a fantastic job of encouraging their team to take risks. As a result, employees get to express their wildest ideas in a safe space. Pixar sets out not only to examine ideas but explore the dynamics of the room. If you've got a team at work, try open and honest collaborations. You never know what genius ideas your team will come up with. Collaborations can spark creativity, too. 7. Live Life In the documentary "The Creative Brain" on Netflix, jazz musician Robert Glasper makes an excellent point. He stated that he wouldn't create great music if he didn't have a life outside his music. As humans, we don't generate something out of nothing. Instead, we take inputs from everything around us to be creative, as creativity doesn't have to mean original...more like remixed. To think about it, some of the best Hip-Hop songs ever are remixes. Question How do you spark creativity in your life? Share in the comments below. #creativity

Are you tired of marketing? Aren’t we all. It doesn’t matter what type of business you have. Marketing can be stressful. Think about this. According to Survey Monkey, 1 in 3 marketers (36%) say getting the attention of their target market is the top challenge they face. Can you imagine how many people without a background in marketing find marketing difficult? For a long time, to reach their target audience, businesses would surprise a person with their presence, like waitstaff singing happy birthday to you at a restaurant out of the blue despite telling your family you despise the gesture. You can think of this scenario as outbound marketing — when you reach out to people to find out if they are interested in what you have to offer. Inbound Marketing Engages Rather Than Disrupts Now, there are more ways to use inbound marketing. Inbound marketing is a strategy focused on spreading brand awareness by creating content that people can find value in when looking for information relevant to your business. You are essentially helping your audience find you using forms of pull marketing. Pull marketing includes the use of blogs, events, social media, search engine optimization (SEO), eBooks, tip sheets, whitepapers, how-to guides, emails, and videos, to name a few. Resources such as blogs, eBooks, tip sheets, whitepapers, and how-to guides, if they speak to your target audience’s pain points, can help to attract consumers and increase your website traffic. However, you must be patient with the results of blogging and creating freebies. It can take 1-2 years or more to see more traffic to your website from creating free content for your target audience. Blogging Your goal should be to create a minimum of 60 blog posts to see growth if you consistently publish with internal links to your freebies. The free, value-based content will help your audience to learn more about you and become invested in the idea of working with you, with a new piece of this type of content created monthly. Videos Videos are another fantastic way to help people discover you through their quest for information related to what you do. Videos provide a great opportunity for people to learn about your services, consumer experiences through testimonials, capabilities from case studies, and about your industry, specialty, or discipline. Emails As for email marketing, emails can help build brand awareness as you can ask those who have trusted you with their contact information to share your emails with others. Emails will also always keep your brand top of mind for those on your list for the day they need your help as long as you continually convey what you do, the value of your work, and why they should care. You can do this by sharing new articles, freebies, videos, and more with your email subscribers. Social Media Social media, on the other hand, is a very direct brand awareness marketing tactic. Through hashtags and keyword phrases, you can help your audience find your business on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn, to name a few, which will give your audience the instant gratification of knowing that you are there for them with the information they are looking to receive. Search Engine Optimization and Growth-Driven Website Design Keyword phrases are also helpful in driving traffic to your website, using a mix of search engine optimization (SEO) with growth-driven website design and development. SEO begins with keyword research and a keyword strategy that focuses on words and phrases that your target audience would likely use during their search for information relevant to your service business. With your keywords, you can then create targeted content that provides your audience with value. Then, to improve your website conversion rate, you should continually assess your website and its content to enhance content and areas of your website where there could be a better user experience based on website analytics. Benefits of Inbound Marketing These marketing tactics lessen your audience's chances of feeling like you are selling to them. Consumers have been known not to like feeling pushed or manipulated to take action, such as investing in a service. Instead, inbound marketing educates, entertains, and is welcomed more openly by consumers, as it gives consumers more autonomy to engage you when they are ready. You want to empower consumers with all the information they need to make a buying decision, with the most impactful information deriving from messaging strategy development. Giving the consumer what they need to make an educated decision builds likability, trust, authority, and reputation.