A brand is more than aesthetics:  Branding shows potential and current clients who you are, what you do and who you serve.

The look of an organization is important. On a daily basis we make snap judgment decisions about things based upon our visual analysis of them. It is involuntary and part of human psychology; we are visual creatures and what we see is what we assume we get.  People say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but we do, over and over again. So branding isn’t just about how pretty your logo is but what it says about your organization.

The process of creating the perfect brand for your organization must come in steps. Each step builds upon the next to create the ultimate visual story. This is where we introduce Web Marketing Therapy’s Hierarchy of Brand Needs . A step by step look at the process of brand construction:

Consider this mantra; In order to reach “Strong Branding Actualization” one must satisfy all branding needs beforehand.  Here are the steps:

1. Identify Your Uniqueness:  Who are you? What do you do? Whom do you serve? You must first understand who you are, where you stand and what your goals are for your organization before you can build a brand.

Are you a small flower shop with aspirations for going big? Then take that into account when you are developing your brand. If you want to target more sophisticated clients then make sure to communicate that goal when in the development stages. Take the time to think about things before you move forward.

2. Make Your Mark:  Create a logo for your organization from the answers to the questions in the previous stage of branding needs. This logo will help define the characteristics of your brand and will showcase to clients and consumers who your organization is.

If you are a financial advising company and you want to communicate dependability, stability and trustworthiness think of visuals that represent those characteristics; pillar, mountains, and buildings. Classic colors are also important; a royal blue can feel secure and timeless.  Don’t go with something just because you “like it” -make sure the visual is serving a purpose, in this case communicating to clients who you are.

3. Conceive Collateral: From your new logo you will be able to build business cards and other collateral, furthering the creation and development of the look and feel of your brand. Great design with a clear message helps build a great reputation.

Make sure the look and feel of your logo translates to the look and feel of your business cards and other collateral. Keep font and color choices consistent. If your logo is simple and modern keep the rest of your brand the same way! You want your clients to know who you are and to recognize you!

4. Pursue Web Presence:  From the process of satisfying your first 3 branding needs you can now create a website that encompasses the look and feel of your brand. This will allow you to position your organization in the most visible place in the world!

This is worth reiterating; keep your organization’s look consistent!  Your website (and Facebook, blog, YouTube, Twitter and more!) should be an extension of everything mentioned above.  And above all, keep your website simple and easy to navigate.  People want to get to the meat of your site immediately (that means no landing pages) or they will just click their little butts over to another site in a heartbeat.

5. Strong Brand Actualization: Congratulations! You have created a brand that allows you to take on more business with a clear sense of where your organization is positioned. You now have the ability to focus on increases in productivity on many different levels for your organization.

Your brand does a lot of communication work for you – image matters.  A strong easy to recognize logo takes the message of your organization directly to the client and validates that you are established and professional. A clean, easy to navigate website makes people want to work with you because information about your services and/or products is easy to find and that makes you seem legitimate and knowledgeable. So get out there and put that brand to work for you.

“You can measure a person’s greatness by discovering how much it takes to discourage them.”

-Robert C. Savage

Don’t let a silly hiccup stop you from creating the blog you always wanted to start.  Don’t let your lack of she-geek speak knowledge stop you from building a web marketing plan.  If faced with a problem, the quickest and easiest way to run from it – is to solve it.

May you be forever a problem-solver and never discouraged!

Talk is cheap.  Make marketing matter, make it happen.  There are two types of people on this planet – people who watch things happen and people who make things happen.  You tell me you think is more successful….JUST DO IT….learn web marketing best practices, then make it real.

Dang, what a wild, wonderful, wacky 2008.  At WMT, we couldn’t be more fortunate to have such a great team, meaningful work and fantastic clients.  As 1% for the planet members, we proudly made a donation to give back.  This year we selected to have 1% of our gross revenue go to the Breast Cancer Fund, a brilliant environmental non-profit that makes a quantifiable impact with their work. 

Here’s to a divine 2009!  Our 2009 resolutions are below!  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Pamela Sherman, Web Marketing Relationship Expert
–To get control over my wild use of parenthesis in 2009! (Really, why can’t I resist doing that?)
–To blend more play into my work, spreading the wealth of happy-ness in busy-ness.
–To insert a “Blog” chip into my brain – somewhere between the medulla and the cerebellum for habitual filing and downloading.

Nicki Gauthier, Data Diva:
My New Year’s Resolution is too spend more time helping myself (mainly physically but also mentally) so that I can give more help to others!

Emilia Doerr, Client Treatment Specialist:
Acting when inspiration hits! I tend to put many of my tasks and the deluge of requests I receive on a to-do list, which isn’t exactly procrastination, but it can turn simple tasks (like blogging or sending recaps) into gigantic blocks in my productivity flow! There’s not better time to tackle an action item than the present!

Kate McMillan, Design Diva or Web Design Wonkette: (we are working on her identity issues)
As much as I think about the usability of the web sites I build, I sometimes get so wrapped up in the intricacies of a successful design and implementation that I forget about the usability of my communication.  I resolve to give as much thought to the simplicity and usefulness of the way I communicate options and solutions as I do to the sites behind them.

Lorrie Thomas, Marketing Therapist:
Make more time to read marketing books to boost my she-geek status, find the solution to not be a victim to my email inbox, read my belief plan weekly, stick to my values and LEARN, GIVE, GROW and LOVE.

Kelly Kohen, Web Marketing Counselor:
Finish up my tutorial learning on Dream Weaver and actually get out there and build a web marketing savy website (starting with my Dad’s business first!) Attend webinars on relevant topics to continue my learning in the field…you can never know too much!

Anne Orfila, Psycho-Web-Analyst:
In 2009 for webmarketing therapy, without a doubt, I am looking within to improve my without.

AnaMaria Herrera, Client Attraction Specialist:
My resolution is to only sit for 2 hours at a time… can I do it???  (After I write this I am off for a bike ride)

Can you visualize your 2009 goals?

Insight from the Dalai Lama: “With a vision, a positive result may materialize.”

This Christmas year, for my family gift exchange, we had the options to make the gifts, bake them, grow them, sew them, or paint them. I decided to paint Dalai Lama quotes for my family – blog image disclaimer: I never said I was a gifted painter.

I enjoyed this gift exchange because painting turned out to be very therapeutic and it forced me to read my box of Dalai Lama quotes.  This quote is a great reminder because 2009 is approaching and I would like to be more positive and visualization will help me reach my 2009 goals.

What marketing goals are you setting for your business?  Remember to plan and visualize your 2009 goals and if you need help making your web marketing goals, you know who to contact.