Fascinating faces on business cards

In a previous post ‘How visible is your networking?’ I explored the idea of putting a photograph on your business card. I have found four examples of people who have done just that!

This is done solely to show who the cards belong to.  How many times have you got home, looked at the business cards you collected, and wondered what the owners looked like? Only the ones that made the most impression probably stuck in your memory. Ironically, it is the most rememberable ones that do put portraits on their networking material.

Mary Flavell is a flamoyant lady who takes over networking events by storm (she is not called the Queen of Networking for nothing). She always looks immaculate and her gushing friendliness emphasises her willingness to get to know what you do, and to see how she can help you. It seems only right that she should have a photograph of herself on her card, although once you’ve met Mary, it would be very difficult to forget her.

Graham Jones is well known as The Internet Pyschologist, and all his media includes a photograph of him, so it’s not surprising there is one on his business card. He has rigidly stuck to this branding, so much so that you only need to see the colours and his portrait at a distance to recognise his company. That’s why its a good thing to choose a particular photograph you are happy with and be consistent with its distribution, both on- and off-line, to enable instant recognition – all good marketing ploys.

Ophelia Messer is a lady who I’m sure was reluctant to put her photo on her business card, but I’m very glad she has. Another rememberable networker, recognition plays a major role if she is to be successful in recruiting for her business. Her invitation for ‘call me now for an informal chat’ is made much easier because of her welcoming grin; such call for actions are more personable if you can see your contact.

And finally John Cassidy, who for a photographer of the rich and famous (he does capture ordinary mortals to make them look fabulous too) it would be strange if he didn’t have a self-portrait on his card. It does, of course, make him look georgous, yet he has chosen a more down-to-earth representation of himself in his social networking. It’s always a good thing to get a chance to show off your expertise through your networking material, and John’s picture has done just that.

‘Blackberry’ doesn’t say ‘babies clothes’ to me

One young entrepreneur was asking for advice on her babies’ clothes business on a women’s business forum. She had decided to call it ‘Blackberry Babes’ and wondered if it was a good name or not. This is my response:

I’m still a little confused why you need to use ‘blackberry’ – is there some underlying reason for this? I immediately thought of the hand-held electronic system. I certainly agree that ‘babies’ is better than ‘babes’.

I should take a good luck at the USP of your product. What is special about it? What does it have that your competitors haven’t? Does it use special fabrics, are the colours significant, does it cater for specific kinds of babies’ requirements, or what?

Then I would think about how it change the lives of the babies, or their mothers. Concentrate on that phenomenon when you do your marketing. For example, an ironing service shouldn’t talk about what they do, ie your ironing, but what their customers can do if their ironing is done by the company, ie free time with the family, weekends free from household chores, no more ironing piles towering on your washingmachine! You should be describing ‘what’s in it for them’, not your product, because customers couldn’t care a tinker’s toot about you or your business, they only care about how it affects themselves.

What is so special about your babies clothes that marks it out as different from all the others, has a special element that makes the recipients lives better, and offers excellent value? Take these facts, work out your ‘keywords’ and create a name using them. For example, a courier service called ‘Fetch it now!’ – says exactly what’s on the tin.

Why this and not ‘blackberry’? ‘Blackberry’ doesn’t suggest to me baby clothing, it suggests to me more of food, or blackberry stains on sticky babies. If you are going to have a website for your company (hopefully an e-commerce one where mothers can buy on-line) by having a keyword rich name will not only make it easier for the search engine spiders to find your company, but easier for search engine users who type in those ‘keywords’ in their searches for baby clothes, not to mention the mothers who will understand exactly what you can do for them.

The result may be a little more boring than ‘Blackberry babes’ but if you want to survive on the internet, being cute and pretty won’t cut the chase.

Renaming your Business with a Focus

At BNI this morning I spoke to one member who was undergoing the process of renaming his business. The quick advice I was able to give him in the five minutes we had was to brainstorm all the keywords he and his partners could think of that referred to his business, write them down in a huge list, compare them at a meeting and thrash out some ideas.

Gather ideas from on-line such as Wordtracker and off-line such as friends, family and colleagues, also when you’re driving around or thinking about a case/situation/meeting/email response – even if they sound stupid, unlikely or unsuitable – anything could finally trigger that fantastic answer you’ve been looking for.

And take your time to make your decision – it may come easily to you, or after weeks of sole-searching you may even go for the original one you first thought of! Never rush into a renaming job too quickly – it’s too much hassle and time-consuming to change it later.

Food for Thoughtful Branding

Today I attended an excellent seminar on ‘The Power of Branding’ by Karen Skidmore of CanDoCanBe. One of the exercises we had to think about was to compare our business with a supermarket product, so I thought of a cake. A high quality, freshly baked, extremely delicious carrot cake you would buy for a special occasion, such as to impress your rich Aunt Agatha who was coming to tea and you wanted to keep yourself in her good books.

Here are the questions with my answers:

Where in the store would you be found?
In the bakery section amongst the daily fresh produce.

What is displayed next to you?
Lots of different cakes, all competing for presentation, flavour and taste.

What kind of other brands would be around you?
Speciality cakes produced for particular occasions to create a good impression, and other kinds of baked products of various descriptions and quality.

What special offers would your provide?
A plate of small portions for free tasting aimed at passer-bys to entice them to buy the whole cake.

What makes you stand out on the shelf?
My presentation within the chilled counter, displayed appropriately on a stemmed stand. As well as my taste and flavour I would rely on my colour and moistness of my slices embellished by scrumptious looking icing and decoration, but not too much as ‘less is more’.

What price tag would you have?
Middle of the road, but with quality that is extremely good value.

What other items would your buyer have in their trolley?
Nice teas and fancy biscuits, fresh and organic produce, healthy and environmentally friendly foods and fair-trade items; I would like someone who understands good food.

What other aspects or description would you have?
I would need to look tempting, especially next to the double chocolate fudge cake, and would rely on a good salesperson who has a passion for healthy cakes and fully understands my ingredients.

What product would you be and what would be your answers to these questions?