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Wouldn’t it be great if all small businesses had the budget to just redo all of their marketing materials at once, creating a completely new look for the company every time it was time to update? In reality, a lot of us need to do this updating piece meal. To be honest, even for those of us who are working on our own materials (and at least don’t have the added cost), the very thought of doing them all at once can be pretty daunting.
So how do we update our materials if we can’t do it all at once? If we can’t update everything, why bother? Won’t it be bad to have some items updated, while others are behind?
Having worked with many small and medium businesses in southeast Michigan and beyond, I can tell you that even larger companies with big budgets don’t always update everything all at once. So don’t be discouraged if your materials are in need of a major overhaul and you’ve only got the time or resources for a minor makeover. The most important thing is to not be so overwhelmed that you just leave everything as is.
If your materials need that revamp, start with the materials that are most important. What are seen first by your clients? Where are you getting the most work/traffic? If you get the bulk of your work from your website, start there. If you are a bigtime networker, perhaps your business cards are the first thing for an update. If you need a complete overhaul of everything, maybe you need to start with your logo.
The key is, once you pick where to start, make sure you get that piece right. Whether using a graphic designer or designing the materials yourself, you want to be happy with the look of your first updated piece, then you can base the changes of everything else on that piece. It is vitally important that you don’t update one piece to look one way, and then do something completely different with everything else. As you go about systematically updating all of your materials, they all need to coordinate, or match. They all need to have your “new look”.
Another consideration is timing. If you can’t do it all at once, try not to drag it out too long, especially if the new look is drastically different from your old one. If you know it is going to be a long process, maybe the new look should be something that doesn’t stray too far from your existing image. Much more of an update than a complete redesign. This can accomplish two things… First it can help maintain your brand identity, and second it can make it so that if a client gets two different pieces of your marketing puzzle, they at least look like part of the same company.
What would you change first if you were updating your materials? How long do you think is reasonable to update “everything”?
Think you need to add a picture to your marketing pieces – always and no matter what? It’s true that pictures draw viewers attention – especially pictures of people. But for your small business marketing piece to be effective, there should be a reason for adding the picture and it should make sense why that is the image you chose.
Networking here in Brighton, Michigan I’ve come across many business cards or advertisements with a landscape photo, or maybe some flowers in the background. Sure, these might make for a “pretty” card or ad, but do the images make sense? Is the business a landscaper, outdoor outfitter or florist? Maybe a meditation coach could justify how these images have anything to do with what they do… maybe. For most everyone else, it would be better to have a different image, or (gasp) maybe no picture at all (more on this below).
Another place where people often misuse images is in the stock photos they choose. Make sure the stock photos you choose are appropriate for the audience you want to reach. For example, there are a TON of stock photos floating around of very attractive young models in business attire. And often these end up on all sorts of business marketing materials. Unfortunately, sometimes these photos really don’t relate to the target market. Say the piece is aimed at reaching people in management… Would it be more effective if those stock photos showed people who actually looked like they might have enough experience to be in management, as opposed to the 22-year-old who put on a suit for their first interview? If you’re trying to reach housewives, do young women who look like they are barely above teenagers really get through to your audience?
So what do you do if you can’t find an image that makes sense for your piece? If you don’t have a photo with a reason to be there, you can still add interest to your piece through the use of other graphic elements. Do something interesting with geometric shapes. Put stylized lines under your headings. Take an element from your logo, and maybe screen it in the background. Be creative.
What are some of the worst examples of images that don’t make sense for a piece that you’ve seen?
Who hasn’t seen a poster or ad that was made up of one large graphic with text over top of it. They’re everywhere. But I’ve gotta say, they can really be horrible. Using your picture this way not only diminishes the effect of the picture, it usually makes the text harder to read. It also means your piece has virtually no white space and the effect is usually a cluttered, unprofessional looking marketing piece.
But, you say, I need that picture in the background in order for it not to be “boring”. Wrong. Find a way to creatively use the picture as something other than just a background. Can it be cropped? Can you use a gradient? If it needs to be smaller, so be it. It’s better for it to actually be readable than to take up the whole page just for the sake of filling space. Another advantage of not using your image for the background… you don’t have to screen it out. Your customers can see it in all of its rich brilliant color and sharpness.
Or, if you still want to make the picture as large as possible, find a way to screen out part of it (and I mean really screen it out until it’s almost not there) and make your words take up less space to fill that new smaller screened out area. Or maybe there’s a part of your picture that can almost work as a blank canvas rather than competing with your text. For example, maybe it’s a landscape photo and part of the sky can hold your text, or a photo of a person who is wearing a monochromatic jacket, or a building with an expansive roof or window, or… well you get the idea.
Turn in tomorrow for part three…
Back when I first started my own freelance design business, one of the first things I did was to come up with a logo and business cards. Then I got a couple of clients and quit spending much time on my own marketing materials, thinking they would get done eventually. Well, the eventually kept getting spread out further and further. I got the work done for those couple of clients and I still kept putting off working on new marketing collateral.
Finally, after a push from my husband (muse, best critic, person best equipped to give me a good kick in the butt when I need it) I went ahead on my website, put together a leave behind and just generally got the ball rolling again. And I’ve got to tell you, getting that package of shiny new postcards in the mail from the printer – complete with all of my business information and logo – well it really gave me a good boost of enthusiasm to push harder to make my business succeed. Looking at that new website made me proud of my company and really made me want to do the best I could to see it grow. It made me feel so much more legitimate and professional, which came out in my new marketing efforts as well as the work I was doing for my clients.
I’ve recently seen a similar effect for a couple small business clients here in Brighton, Michigan. While they were doing okay at their business, their marketing materials had grown stale and they had lost some of the enthusiasm for marketing themselves. They went through the motions, but just weren’t that excited or even optimistic about it.
It’s amazing how much difference the new updated materials made. In one case, the client was still in the early stages of developing their clientele and had stalled much like I had. In another instance, the new materials gave the client a reason to reconnect with existing clients to help them get those ever so important referrals. And in a third instance, you could just see the client ooze with new found pride in their company, which in turn made me feel so much more pride in mine.
What do you think? What could updated marketing materials do for your company? For your enthusiasm?
Online print houses can be a great money saving option for entrepreneurs – if they’re used for printing. However, far too many small business people are using these services to also “design” their marketing collateral. Your marketing collateral should reflect YOUR business and personality. This is especially true with your business card. While a stock photo of an outdoor scene might be pleasant enough, it is incredibly generic – only saying something about you or your business if you happen to be an outdoor outfitter.
A business card with a generic background blends into oblivion with your potential clients. Nothing makes it stand out from the crowd, and even worse, it sends a subliminal message that your business isn’t a serious, “real” business. Think about it, let’s say you get two business cards from a potential service provider – say a financial planner. One of them has a stock photo in the background while the other one has a unique, professional logo or graphic. Which one are you going to take more seriously? Which one looks like it’s associated with a legitimate, established and experienced business professional? Who are you more likely to trust and do business with?
Another downside of using the ready made templates – chances are someone else is using the same one. I was recently at a networking event in Brighton, Michigan where I received the same card, from two individuals in two vastly different businesses. And the graphic design of the card didn’t say anything meaningful about either of them.
Putting together a professional, unique business card doesn’t have to break the bank for a new small business, but it does need to be something that has some time and thought put into it. Pay the small amount extra to upload your own logo or images to that online print house. Strongly consider working with a graphic designer. The one time expense to come up with a card that truly says what you mean to say to potential clients is more than worth it – especially considering the negative message that you might otherwise be portraying. (For more on what your business card needs to contain, read the great article by Marketing coach Tom Harris.)
In today’s highly competetive marketplace, we all need every advantage we can get. Do you want to be the one with the card that blends into the background? What are some of the worst business card “sins” you’ve encountered?
