[aageneral] How An Entrepreneur's Choices Define First Impressions--Demystifying Business Identity
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Contact the author: Susan Kirkland, Master Designer
<mailto:skirklan@sdkirkland.com subject=ArticleBanks>
Summary: First impressions and emotional impulse motivate
prospective buyers. Entrepreneurial choices in
advertising can make or break business growth, especially on
the web.
Word Count: 656
===========================================================
How An Entrepreneur's Choices Define First
Impressions--Demystifying Business Identity
The mechanics' flyer used all the key words to convince me
to take my car there. The two brothers who owned
and operated this small repair shop for imported automobiles
were factory trained, offered advance appointments
and only used brand name parts. Why was I dragging my feet?
Probably because the flyer was hand written by
someone in a big hurry; it was sloppy and amateurish. I
secretly suspected the same was true of their work, but I
was tired of being ripped off by the car dealer, so I
overcame my prejudices and reservations. I found a clean,
professional shop with qualified, customer conscious
mechanics eager to do good work. Their flyer was clearly
no indication of the quality of their work and I became a
repeat customer for the next fourteen years. But how
many potential customers had they discouraged with their
amateur advertising?
Desktop publishing has made it easy for entrepreneurs to sit
down at the keyboard and make "almost" professional
looking flyers; but professionals call them flyers because
"they fly in and fly out." And in many cases, this
is a good thing because those hastily composed flyers
frequently do more damage than good. Let's examine a
few details of advertising pieces and why your choices are
more important than you may realize.
Every time you create a beacon for your business (any
advertising in any media), you form an impression. The
easiest way to create a consistent impression is to use a
well designed logo. Professionally designed logos are an
investment that develop equity just like a piece of real
estate, growing in value as they bring recognition to your
product or service. Here are three requirements for a
working logo. It should:
1. Serve your purposes for ten years without appearing
dated.
2. Convey your industry or service at a glance.
3. Employ classic fonts (fad fonts are tomorrow's platform
shoes).
How important is your company identity? Like every well-worn
cliché, an identity performs the same base
function of quick recognition. With an austerity of words,
visual identities quickly associate and touch deep
emotional centers. Instinctual reactions are not easily
undone in the viewing public. Why is a picture worth a
thousand words? Because pictures are received by the right
side of the brain, your emotional center. While
words must be translated through the logic center of your
brain, pictures go right to the heart of the matter, so to
speak. That means logos that are graphic rather than
verbiage based will impress quickly. They will translate to
your targets' emotional center with more impact and that
makes accuracy in visuals highly important. Since it
gets there quicker, it had better be right. Amateurs may
stumble here if they accidentally cross social taboos or
invoke subliminal prejudices. If you push the wrong button,
your audience may unintentionally transfer their
subliminal feelings of angst to your company without
realizing it. Use a professional designer if at all possible
even if cash flow isn't optimal; barter is always an option.
Here's a story to illustrate my point: A hundred year old
funeral parlor installed new signage; the owner wanted
something bold and black. After about a year of steady
business decline, a survey was taken among families who
had been customers for generations but suddenly took their
business elsewhere. The participants responded they
had a queasy feeling about the place; couldnt put their
finger on it; they thought about dead children whenever
they saw that new sign. The sign company followed the owners
request and used a big, bold typefaceCooper
Blackthe same font traditionally used on childrens
alphabet blocks. How confident are you about
advertising choices for your business?
Funeral Parlor or Children's ABC's?
©2005 Susan Kirkland, small business owner and author of
Start and Run a Creative Services Business,
shares the secrets to finding and keeping clients,
negotiating with vendors, protecting yourself from
Scoundrels and scalawags--a valuable resource for everyone,
no matter what line of work. For more information and a
complimentary POD cartoon visit http://www.sdkirkland.com
########################################################
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You may reprint this article, electronically in free-only
. publications in it's entirety in an Ezine, blog or web site.
You may not use this article for commercial purposes without
. our written consent.
You may not use this article in Unsolicited Commercial Email.
. This article can only be distributed in opt-in email lists
only.
Whenever this article is used, it must include the authors
. byline with an active link back to our web site.
Courtesy copy of ezine or URL on web site is appreciated.
. Ask for changes you'd like made, if any.
. Request permission from the author to publish this article in
. print or in a paid for arena.
Contact the author: Susan Kirkland, Master Designer
<mailto:skirklan@sdkirkland.com subject=ArticleBanks>
Summary: First impressions and emotional impulse motivate
prospective buyers. Entrepreneurial choices in
advertising can make or break business growth, especially on
the web.
Word Count: 656
===========================================================
How An Entrepreneur's Choices Define First
Impressions--Demystifying Business Identity
The mechanics' flyer used all the key words to convince me
to take my car there. The two brothers who owned
and operated this small repair shop for imported automobiles
were factory trained, offered advance appointments
and only used brand name parts. Why was I dragging my feet?
Probably because the flyer was hand written by
someone in a big hurry; it was sloppy and amateurish. I
secretly suspected the same was true of their work, but I
was tired of being ripped off by the car dealer, so I
overcame my prejudices and reservations. I found a clean,
professional shop with qualified, customer conscious
mechanics eager to do good work. Their flyer was clearly
no indication of the quality of their work and I became a
repeat customer for the next fourteen years. But how
many potential customers had they discouraged with their
amateur advertising?
Desktop publishing has made it easy for entrepreneurs to sit
down at the keyboard and make "almost" professional
looking flyers; but professionals call them flyers because
"they fly in and fly out." And in many cases, this
is a good thing because those hastily composed flyers
frequently do more damage than good. Let's examine a
few details of advertising pieces and why your choices are
more important than you may realize.
Every time you create a beacon for your business (any
advertising in any media), you form an impression. The
easiest way to create a consistent impression is to use a
well designed logo. Professionally designed logos are an
investment that develop equity just like a piece of real
estate, growing in value as they bring recognition to your
product or service. Here are three requirements for a
working logo. It should:
1. Serve your purposes for ten years without appearing
dated.
2. Convey your industry or service at a glance.
3. Employ classic fonts (fad fonts are tomorrow's platform
shoes).
How important is your company identity? Like every well-worn
cliché, an identity performs the same base
function of quick recognition. With an austerity of words,
visual identities quickly associate and touch deep
emotional centers. Instinctual reactions are not easily
undone in the viewing public. Why is a picture worth a
thousand words? Because pictures are received by the right
side of the brain, your emotional center. While
words must be translated through the logic center of your
brain, pictures go right to the heart of the matter, so to
speak. That means logos that are graphic rather than
verbiage based will impress quickly. They will translate to
your targets' emotional center with more impact and that
makes accuracy in visuals highly important. Since it
gets there quicker, it had better be right. Amateurs may
stumble here if they accidentally cross social taboos or
invoke subliminal prejudices. If you push the wrong button,
your audience may unintentionally transfer their
subliminal feelings of angst to your company without
realizing it. Use a professional designer if at all possible
even if cash flow isn't optimal; barter is always an option.
Here's a story to illustrate my point: A hundred year old
funeral parlor installed new signage; the owner wanted
something bold and black. After about a year of steady
business decline, a survey was taken among families who
had been customers for generations but suddenly took their
business elsewhere. The participants responded they
had a queasy feeling about the place; couldnt put their
finger on it; they thought about dead children whenever
they saw that new sign. The sign company followed the owners
request and used a big, bold typefaceCooper
Blackthe same font traditionally used on childrens
alphabet blocks. How confident are you about
advertising choices for your business?
Funeral Parlor or Children's ABC's?
©2005 Susan Kirkland, small business owner and author of
Start and Run a Creative Services Business,
shares the secrets to finding and keeping clients,
negotiating with vendors, protecting yourself from
Scoundrels and scalawags--a valuable resource for everyone,
no matter what line of work. For more information and a
complimentary POD cartoon visit http://www.sdkirkland.com
########################################################
Looking For Quality Content?
The Syndicator provides free, quality syndicated articles
for your website that are automatically updated each week.
Syndication feeds include:
Business/Sales
Internet Marketing/Promotion
Web Design/Development
Biz Tips
Web Design Tips
Home & Family Matters
Dinner Ideas
Health & Fitness
Horoscopes
AngelVoice
Headlines
and more...
http://www.web-source.net/syndicator.htm
########################################################
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