Small Business Talk with MDzyn

In a perfect world, it’s not one or the other. In a perfect world, which means you have unlimited funding for your marketing efforts, you should target both. However, since most of us don’t live in that world, we have to make educated decisions about who to target, what to send them and how to execute it. The fact of the matter is that takes a much larger budget to gain new business from folks that may never have heard of you, than it does to “remind” your existing customers that you’re anxious to help them…again. Strengthen your relationships, and be in front of your existing customer base so that when they need your services your widget, you are top of mind.

As a small business considering an e-marketing campaign, the first thing to ask yourself is if you’re doing a good job of collecting contact information from your customers, then maintaining it in a list to use for communication efforts. If you are, then it makes sense to stay in front of that audience first with a monthly or quarterly e-news message of some sort. Once you’ve got that down, start to think about implementing a new business approach targeting a list of prospects. Just remember when you undertake this initiative that it takes time — depending on your sales cycle, it could take quite a bit of time. Oh yeah, and some money too. Average open and click through rates are documented, but there are variables including what industry you’re in.

If you need help with an initiative like this, MDzyn Solutions can help you.

• Simple
• Memorable
• Timeless
• Versatile
• Appropriate

Simple — Simplicity allows for easy recognition, versatility and is easy to “remember.”

Memorable — Allowing the logo to be memorable is achieved by making the logo simple, but also distinctive and clear. In other words, it’s appropriate and creates a “relationship” between the symbol and what it symbolizes, and the viewer.

Timeless — Don’t follow the trends in your logo. Design trends can be utilized in advertising or other initiatives, but an effective logo should be timeless. Your logo should still be effective in 50 years.

Versatile — An effective logo should  work across a variety of mediums and applications. For this reason a logo should be designed for any application including:  horizontal or vertical; one color or more full color; small (postage stamp) or large (billboard); and printed on a light or dark background.

Appropriate — The core “personality” of a logo needs to be appropriate for the company, service or product that it represents. For example, a logo for children’s clothing store would utilize a childish font & colour scheme. The same font and color scheme may not be appropriate for a business consulting firm. “Appropriate” does not mean that a logo must communicate what the organization, product or service is, ie. car company logos don’t need to show cars, computer logos don’t need to show computers. The Nike logo has nothing to do with sports equipment or apparel, but you know that little “swish” now don’t you!

MDzyn Solutions keeps these things in mind in ALL logo designs. We’d love to design an awesome logo for you!

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Regardless of who the customer or client is — a small, medium or large business; an association or non-profit organization; or maybe my daughter’s school sports team; the rules don’t change. Nor does WHAT I’m designing change the rules — a logo, website, brochure, or trade booth display. Regardless of what I’m designing, or who it’s for, I follow 5 basic rules for my process:

Rule #1: Listen.
Rule #2: Embrace the “client’s” vision.
Rule #3: Document the strategy and ensure the client agrees with approach.
Rule #4: Design that. Don’t design something else.

When I follow these rules, the chance for success is great and my number one goal is met: 100% client satisfaction.

Developing a website for your business, and not optimizing it and promoting it is like printing a brochure and keeping boxes of them in your store room then waiting for folks to knock on your door and ask if you have a brochure. I’m sure you wouldn’t do that, would you? For some small companies, “making” a website is good enough. It allows them to put their web address on their business cards, which in turn makes them look like a “real company”. However, for most companies, small or large, just having a website is not enough. It needs to be optimized, promoted and the content kept fresh, i.e. managed, in order to get a return on your investment. If nobody knows your website is there, and you’re not coming up in the search engines, your chance of receiving a return on your website investment is not good. If you already have a website, you may want to consider an SEO/SEM (search engine optimization and/or a search engine marketing) program. Why not make your website into a “profit center” as opposed to just looking at it as a needed expense? If you don’t have a website, you need one. MDzyn Solutions is offering a free one hour consultation to discuss your needs.