Recently, a client of mine complained, "I'm really good at what I do. I shouldn't have to market myself." In fact, he is quite good at his profession, but the problem is that not enough prospective clients know about him. Like many professionals, he is reluctant to talk about his accomplishments. "It feels like bragging," he says. "Doesn't it make me seem unprofessional?"

If thoughts like these often cross your mind, ask yourself this -- who are the biggest names in your profession? In your line of work, who might be considered unquestioned experts, those with maximum credibility? Now, how did you get to know about those people's work? Did you read an article or book they had written, hear them interviewed, learn about them on the web? Or perhaps you were told about them by others who had heard them speak or read their words.

The point is that these well-known people became well-known because they showcased themselves, usually in multiple ways. They shared stories, examples, and ideas about the work they had been doing with a wider audience than just their friends and family. You know about their work because they showed it off. And I'll bet it never occurred to you to call them unprofessional for doing it.

Showing off your work doesn't have to sound like, "Ta da! Aren't I great?" It doesn't have to contain even a hint of bragging. There are a host of very dignified and appropriate ways to let a wider audience know how good you are without ever saying so. Here are a few you might try.

1. Writing articles - Putting your expertise in writing and sharing it with publications your target audience reads is a powerful -- and very professional -- way to let more people know about your unique talents. Submit your articles to both print publications and web sites that serve your niche and watch your visibility grow.

2. Public speaking - Appearing as a speaker allows you to broadcast your expertise with three different audiences -- the people who attend your talk, the people who are invited by the sponsoring organization but can't attend, and the people you tell about it before and after. If standing in front of a room makes you too nervous, serve on a panel of experts instead. You'll get to sit behind a table and speak from notes.

3. Media interviews - Being interviewed by magazines, newspapers, or on radio and television can spread the word quickly about your capabilities. Landing interviews is not that hard to do if you remember to start small. Begin by approaching easy targets like association newsletters, neighborhood newspapers, and local cable programs or talk radio.

4. Telling stories - One of the secrets to effective articles, talks, and interviews is to tell stories about your clients. When you describe their challenges and accomplishments, you reveal the value of your role in helping them without having to boast about it. You can use the same technique in a client presentation to boost your credibility without being arrogant.

5. Testimonials - Whenever you do a good job for a client, ask them to write you a simple thank you note describing what you did to make them happy. Then make their words available on your web site, brochure, or other marketing materials. Let them tell others about your value, and you won't have to say it yourself.

6. Building a portfolio - It's not just artists that should capture their best work to show off in a portfolio. You can collect photos, examples, and other evidence of your accomplishments and display them on your web site, in a marketing kit, or with a PowerPoint presentation. You don't have to sell people on your abilities when they are seeing for themselves what you can do.

7. Creating products - Packaging your work into merchandise that prospective clients can take home and sample gives them a compelling way to discover your real value. Products like ebooks, white papers, and audio recordings allow you to showcase your expertise and increase your credibility. They can often be advertised more widely than your services can, giving you another avenue for getting your name known.

Pick just one of these ideas to pursue and make a plan to showcase what you can do for a wider audience. If you truly want to spend less effort on marketing yourself, start letting your prospective clients know how good you really are.

C.J. Hayden is the author of Get Clients NOW! Thousands of business owners and salespeople have used her simple sales and marketing system to double or triple their income. Visit her web site at http://www.getclientsnow.com.

New entrepreneurs frequently hear the advice to "be unique" in their marketing. The basic idea is a valuable one -- to get attention in a crowded marketplace, you must stand out in some way. Distinguishing your product or service from the competition can make your marketing more effective. Crafting a novel marketing message can attract the notice of more potential customers.

There's no question that an element of uniqueness in your marketing can make your business more memorable, competitive, and special to your target audience. These are all reasons why being different can be good. But how different should you be?

A student in one of my classes had noticed there were no display ads for management consultants in his local Yellow Pages. "What a great opportunity," he thought, "to make my business stand out to prospective clients." He spent over $200 per month on a large ad for a full year. The result was not a single phone call, unless you count the ones from vendors trying to sell him photocopiers and phone systems.

He had neglected to ask his consulting colleagues WHY none of them had ads in the Yellow Pages. It seemed like a good idea to him, and no one else was doing it, so he pulled out his checkbook. What never occurred to him -- and what any experienced colleague could have told him -- was that companies don't choose management consultants from ads in the phone book.

Sometimes you can be too unique for your own good. There's a lot in sales and marketing that is tried and true. If you decide to forge a completely new trail, you may be attempting an experiment that many others in your field have already tried with no success.

It's not always just your marketing techniques that are a little too different. The same problem can afflict the product or service you are marketing.

I met a fellow while networking who had a "unique process" for helping companies resolve conflicts between employee groups. When I asked him to explain his process, he said I would have to experience it to understand it. I inquired how it compared to solutions like mediation or team building, and he told me it was a totally different approach that defied comparison.

Since I knew a company that needed help with a problem like the one he described, I would have liked to refer him. But I couldn't picture myself calling my friend at the company to say, "Hi, I know someone who says he can fix your problem, but he can't explain how. You'll just have to hire him and see."

Being noticeably different from the competition can help you attract customers and close sales. But claiming that you have no competition is naive. Comparisons to a known quantity can help prospective customers understand where your product or service fits in the range of solutions they are considering. If they can't compare it to anything, it's doubtful that they will be able to see how your offering could work.

Your market, too, needs to be a group of people who already exist and can be readily identified. A reader once wrote to ask me for some advice on getting her new book published. I asked what market category it fell into, and she replied that she hadn't really thought about it.

I pressed her bit, explaining that her book needed to be categorized in order to be marketed and sold. Even something as simple as where to shelve it in a bookstore depended on having a category to print on the back cover. Was it self-help, spirituality, careers, business? Who did she see as the audience for her book?

She asserted that she was creating a new paradigm, and if I was going to help her, I needed to think more creatively. My reply was to tell her I couldn't help her at all. Her idea may have been brilliant, but no publisher was going to touch her project.

Creating the perception that your product or service is one of a kind can help you capture people's attention and make them remember you. But you have to be able to identify the people you want to reach and communicate how you can be of service in words they can understand.

You know those car commercials that go, "Zoom, zoom, zoom"? I had to see those ads dozens of times before I could remember that the car being advertised was a Mazda. "Zoom" was unique alright, but what did it have to do with Mazda? Or with the benefits of owning one? A catchy slogan like "Inspiration Beats Perspiration" may be clever and unusual, but what the heck is it marketing?

Definitely look for a unique way to express the benefits you offer to your clients, but make sure it still communicates what you actually do. It's okay to get creative with your marketing, but don't bet the rent money on untried techniques.

If you really want to make your marketing more effective, cheaper and less stressful, stop re-inventing the wheel. Find models that work and replicate them. I'm not suggesting that you plagiarize your competitors' marketing copy, but when you see someone successful in your field, find out what they are doing right, and follow their lead.

Don't let your business be a victim of "terminal uniqueness" -- the belief that you are so different from anyone else that none of the rules apply to you. Being distinctive is good; being eccentric can be unwise.

C.J. Hayden is the author of Get Clients NOW! Thousands of business owners and salespeople have used her simple sales and marketing system to double or triple their income. Visit her web site at http://www.getclientsnow.com.

Community involvement isn't good just for the community -- it's good for your business.

From decorating for the annual chamber of commerce newcomers' breakfast to stirring chili at an elementary school fund-raiser, a solid community outreach plan can take your business from the shadows to the spotlight. It's a sure-fire way to meet contacts and the cheapest source of advertising available.

"Doing something good really does pay off tenfold," explains Geonelli Coratolo, director of small-business policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. "If you're a small business and you aren't doing some community outreach, you're ignoring a large part of your marketing plan."

Working with community groups can help small businesses compensate for their lack of advertising dollars, says Mr. Coratolo. "You have to realize that you don't have the huge amounts of money being spent by corporations on advertising," he says. "Being involved in community activities is the best way to spread the word about your business without the big advertising budget."

A former restaurateur, Mr. Coratolo knows the value of being involved in the neighborhood mix. When a school came to him for a good price on sausage to sell at high-school sporting events, he decided to donate the meat instead.

"I simply asked them to announce where the sausage came from over the loudspeaker at the football games," he says. "The group actually put a sign out for me outside the concession area. It ended up drawing me lots of business. People who had never been into our place came in and ate and thanked us for our support."

His simple donation proved to be an advertising bonanza. At the end of football season, boosters hosted a banquet without having to sell tickets, thanks to revenue from sausage sales. Guess who was invited and received special recognition during the banquet? Mr. Coratolo.

"The sausage cost about $50 a week," he says. "I couldn't have bought an ad in the local paper for that price, and I never would have gotten the response."

Local business people can make two types of community and/or charitable contributions, says Mark LeBlanc, president of Small Business Success, a consulting group based in La Jolla, Calif., and author of "Growing Your Business!" (Milt Adams, 2000). In the first case, you expect to receive something in return for your donation, whether it's press coverage, exposure to potential clientele or eventual sales. In the second, your contribution is simple generosity made with little thought to receiving a return. While a balance of both is good for business, he suggests initially focusing your efforts on the first category.

"Both are positive, but you need to know which one you're making," says Mr. LeBlanc.

Promote Yourself Tastefully

To get the most from your contributions of time or money, you must be willing to step into the limelight -- or at least put your business there. At times, you may need to tactfully wave your hands over your head and attract the limelight.

"A lot of times, people want to take a back seat, but that's not what an entrepreneur should do," says Mr. Coratolo. "Promote yourself and the cause in a tasteful way. You don't want to look like you're doing it for the sole purpose of gaining notoriety."

Mary Pankiewicz, owner of Clutter-Free and Organized, an organizing business in Morristown, Tenn., would have preferred to keep a low profile when she started her company five years ago. But she accepted the need to promote herself and now is featured regularly on local television stations and in area newspapers for her community involvement.

"I started with the local senior citizens center," she says. "I offered to help them get rid of their clutter in celebration of National Clean Off Your Desk Day. The director was thrilled and agreed to let the newspaper take before and after pictures."

Ms. Pankiewicz describes her community involvement as a "win-win situation for everyone." For instance, the senior center received her services free and both she and the center received free publicity.

Most of Ms. Pankiewicz's business comes from Knoxville, about 60 miles from her home. Consequently, she's involved in chamber of commerce activities in several different towns. For these and other groups, she calls program planners and offers to conduct mini-seminars during upcoming meetings. Her programs have proven so successful that they've become another source of income.

"When I started, all the programs I did were free," she says. "Now, I make about one-third of my income doing seminars."

What You Can Gain

Involvement in community organizations can generate more than just customers, says David Steinberg, president and CEO of InPhonic Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based customized wireless communication firm. By becoming active in his local chapter of the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO), a group for presidents and CEOs of companies, Mr. Steinberg found an investor and trusted adviser for his company.

"A well-known nationally successful executive was speaking at a local Young Presidents' conference," says Mr. Steinberg. "After his speech, I asked if I could speak to him for a minute. He said sure, so I told him about our plans here. He was very excited and invited me to meet with him in New York."

Mr. Steinberg expected the meeting to be just a courtesy, but the executive was truly interested in his venture, and the two spent the day talking about possible options. Since then, the executive has invested in the company, provided invaluable advice and introduced Mr. Steinberg to executives who became customers.

Mr. Steinberg notes that for their businesses to benefit, entrepreneurs need to do more than just pay dues to local organizations. "Never join just to say you're a member," he says. "Get involved and work with the organization. You've got to like the people and want to attend the meetings."

Ms. Pankiewicz agrees that joining yields nothing, while involvement means business.

"I drove to a breakfast at 7 a.m. this week thinking, 'why am I doing this?' When I got there, the CEO of a local hospital stopped me to set up some billable hours for his staff. You can't just join. You have to show up and participate."

Guidelines to Involvement

To make your involvement meaningful, be careful not to commit to too many causes. Your schedule no doubt is full already. "In reality, there's never enough time to do everything you want to do, but if you're starting a business, this should be a priority," Mr. Steinberg says. He's able to stay active in his chosen groups by participating in just a few.

Choosing to help with causes you care about also will help you stay active. Ms. Pankiewicz has always had special compassion for senior citizens, and she frequently donates services to organizations serving the elderly.

Remember, though, that this is a business decision. Your company's services should be related in some way to the groups you select. For instance, a business-to-business service would find customers where business owners congregate, like the chamber of commerce.

"This is a marketing effort," says Ms. Pankiewicz. "You have to be active where your market is. If you're marketing a product to families with children, you have to go where families are."

Besides meeting potential customers or investors, community outreach can help you learn how others manage, gain a circle of advisers and network.

"Some organizations frown on members trying to find customers within the organization," Mr. Steinberg says. "It still happens indirectly. In every company I've started, I've picked up a number of customers from organizations I belong to."

Finding organizations that would welcome your involvement isn't difficult. You can locate nonprofit organizations, schools, churches, colleges and other groups that need volunteer help by driving through your community, reviewing the phone book or reading the local paper. Community festivals, museums and other prominent groups always need volunteers.

Or you could join a professional organization that's active in your area. Your municipality likely has a chamber of commerce or local chapters of national industry or functional groups. You could join or start a local chapter of business groups affiliated with gender or ethnic backgrounds.

Also be careful when choosing your level of involvement within an organization, says Mr. LeBlanc. He advises volunteering for committees that are tied to your business specialty. He joined a state trade association in 1983 when he owned a design and printing company and signed up for its newsletter committee. He became the newsletter's editor and quickly gained business from members who received and were impressed by the publication.

By serving on several committees, Ms. Pankiewicz has been able to meet more people. If you don't need to meet a lot of people, but would like to know a few people well, you could volunteer for a project that puts you in close contact with other volunteers for more time.

The ultimate involvement in community organizations is taking a leadership role. You may have to advance through a hierarchy to earn a top position, particularly in such organizations as the chamber of commerce. Many other groups desperately need leaders and will move a willing soul to the head table fairly quickly.

-- Ms. Williams is a free-lance writer in Morristown, Tenn.

Email your comments to sjeditor@dowjones.com

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, a rancher would mark his cattle with a brand. This brand, depicting an image unique to his ranch, distinguished his cattle from another's in the event of a broken fence. Branding, in today's modern marketing world operates much the same way. It seeks to distinguish a product or service from the competition and create a lasting impression in a prospect's mind.

Pay dear attention to your branding programs from the outset, because they work to strengthen the "link of trust" between your company and its buyers.

Shaping Your Brand Image

To start, consider first the personality of your company. Is it sexy or sweet? Tough or tender? Is it more like John Wayne? George Clooney? Andy Griffith?

And if you think all this is hooey, consider these questions: Do Marlboros really taste better than other cigarettes? Is H&R Block superior to the tax accountant down the street? No, but a big reason these companies are leaders is because they have successfully built a personality around their brands.

Name: the First Step

How different would you be if your name were Clem or Matilda? Your company name sets a tone for your brand, right from the start. Names can be generated from invented words (Xerox), initials (IBM) and founder's names (Johnson & Johnson). Some of the best names, though, communicate a benefit (U-Haul or Budget Car Rental).

Logo: Your Company's Symbol

A logo is a distinctive symbol or mark that visually represents your company. To get one that passes muster with the quality police, I recommend hiring a design firm. Because your logo is one of the first visual brand elements your buyers see, put some time and money into it.

If your logo will appear on fax cover sheets, fax it to yourself. If it will appear on billboards, enlarge it to 5 feet and see what it looks like (don't laugh, I actually did this for a client). Put your logo through the quality-checking paces before you use it. You will be glad you did.

Taglines: A Memorable Definition

I am a big believer in taglines. In 10 words or less, a good tagline can communicate the core essence of a brand to the market. And for small businesses, it can be one of the most efficient marketing weapons in their arsenal.

A tagline is simply a short description of a business's reason for being. It could incorporate elements of its expertise, its target audience, even the markets it serves. A tagline can be both direct and subtle—whatever it takes to get the prospect to say to themselves "Oh, I get it."

If you are unfamiliar with taglines, work with a copywriter or marketing consultant. In an hour or two, they can take the core essence of your company's brand and translate it into a memorable and pithy tagline.

Once you have a tagline, always connect it to your logo as a standard practice.  Place the tagline either below your logo or alongside it. But, wherever your logo appears, your tagline should be there with it.

Fonts and Typestyles

Using the proper fonts and typestyles also define your brand. Try to standardize fonts and typestyles that appear routinely in your marketing materials. Use only a select few.

Hint: If you are working with an advertising agency or marketing firm, make sure that their designs use fonts that are readily available. A client of mine once worked with a designer on some marketing materials. The problem was that the designer chose a very creative font that ended up also being hard to find. In the end, the client had to shell out hundreds of dollars to buy the font for its printer.

Colors: Creating a Mood

How do you feel when you walk into a yellow room? When you see a sign with a red background color, what is your first reaction? Colors generate emotional reactions, and it is important to carry that over into your branding program.

So, here is a quick list of common colors and the emotions behind them:

• Red: Stop, passion
• Yellow: Caution, cowardice
• Green: Go, safe
• White: Purity, virtue
• Black: Luxury, prestige
• Blue: Authority, calm
• Orange: Strength, stimulation
• Brown: Warmth, comfort

When deciding on a company color, pay attention to the colors used by your competitors. You do not want to shoot yourself in the foot by choosing a color already associated with your competitor.

The Sounds of Your Brand

One company I frequently call on the telephone plays rap over its on-hold system. I don't know about you, but I believe there is more to music than three bad chords and rotten lyrics. I hate being on hold with that company. And their relationship with me suffers ever so slightly each time I call. If your business has on-hold messaging, or your retail store has background music, make sure it is appropriate.

Publish Some Guidelines

As your company grows, consider developing a brand manual. It can be as simple as a three-ring binder that records how you want brand elements to appear. It should cover the use of your logo, type sizes/fonts/styles, guidelines for color or black and white, and where certain brand elements should be located on the page or screen.

This is a great resource for internal staff to follow and can also be used for new employee training.

Jay Lipe is CEO of EmergeMarketing.com (www.emergemarketing.com) and the author of The Marketing Toolkit for Growing Businesses (Chammerson Press). He can be reached at lipe@emergemarketing.com.

During a recent visit to a local electronics retailer the sales person I usually dealt with was engaged with another customer so someone else helped me and answered my questions. I wasn't ready to make the purchase that day but when I returned almost two weeks later my regular "sales guy", had obviously been told what product I was considering. That meant that I didn't have to go through the entire sales process again which saved me time.

A couple of days later, I discovered that a particular component was missing from the package so I called the store to have it replaced. My sales person was not working but someone else handled the call and told me I could pick it anytime. When I arrived at the store the following day, the sales person-a different one than the previous two- was expecting me and knew exactly what I needed. Once again, it was obvious that his coworker had briefed him on the situation.

This level of communication among the employees definitely reinforced my decision to continue buying from that store. Plus, it got me thinking about the impact effective communication can have on a business.

Customers often make requests, and while the person they initially spoke to is aware of the situation, their coworkers usually don't know what's going on. This means that the customer has to explain their situation again-in some cases, several times-before the situation gets resolved. Think of situations when you call a company and tell the person who answers the telephone about your situation. They transfer you to someone else and you have to re-state your concern or problem again. Sometimes, this person cannot help you so they pass you to yet another person. Once again, you have to repeat your story and it's not uncommon for this process to be repeated several times before you connect with the right person and finally get a resolution to your situation.

All of this takes time. And time is the most precious commodity people have today. When you communicate customer concerns or situations to other people on your team you make it easy for people to do business with you. You save them time. You demonstrate a higher level of customer service. And this encourages people to buy from you.

This also applies to the speed at which you respond to your customers whether it's by email, telephone, or in face-to-face situations. I can't count the number of time I have contacted companies by filling out their on-line web-forms but never received a response. A car dealership I deal with suggests making service appointments via their website but their process doesn't always work which means the appointment doesn't get made or that relevant information gets lost. In other cases, I have requested quotes for products or services but no one ever responded. In fact, in one situation a salesperson called me two months AFTER I submitted my request. By that time, I had already given my business to one of their competitors. On a positive note, I have emailed some companies and received a response within a few hours. Unfortunately, this tends to be the exception rather than the rule.

Effective communication means reducing the number of steps your customers have to take. It means making sure that the automated systems you put into place work and that someone actually responds by emailing or calling that customer quickly. Here are a few other situations that prompt, effective and communication will help you improve your business and customer loyalty.

When customers are waiting for back-orders. Instead of forcing your customer to contact you, be proactive and keep them apprised of their order. While it's not enjoyable telling people that their order hasn't arrived yet, it's better to be proactive.

When your customers have complaints or concerns. The faster you take care of customer concerns and the fewer hoops you make them jump through, the more satisfied they will be. If you can't solve their problem immediately, give them a time frame then keep them updated of the progress. Don't make them call you.

When policies change. Give your customers advance notice when your policies change. This will give them time to adapt to the change and reduce the number of complaints you receive.

In today's highly competitive business world you can't afford to make it difficult for your customers to do business with you. Otherwise, you run the risk that they will jump ship and use another company or supplier.

When you improve your communication with your customers and within your company, you improve your service which leads to repeat sales. Effective communication can help you improve your sales. It may seem trivial but it definitely makes a difference.

Copyright 2006 Kelley Robertson, All rights reserved.

Kelley Robertson, President of the Robertson Training Group, works with businesses to help them increase their sales and motivate their employees. He is also the author of Stop, Ask & Listen – Proven sales techniques to turn browsers into buyers . For information on his programs, visit his website at www.RobertsonTrainingGroup.com

It's quiz time. Match each of the following consumer brands on the left with the word that best describes it on the right:

Apple	Reliable
Volvo	Different
FedEx	Safety

If you matched Apple with "different"; Volvo with "safety"; and FedEx with "reliable", then you are correct! Pretty easy? It should be. After all, they have spent hundreds of millions of dollars associating their companies with these words. These words represent the end of a comprehensive process that establishes what every good consumer product company relies on; its brand.

Brand is paramount in the product arena; it creates awareness, drives perception, and improves desirability. Brands with top-of-mind awareness have higher perceived value, which allows charging higher price points.

Many service companies, however, have not embraced brand, because they believe it to be largely the domain of product companies. But many of the same basic marketing principles apply: brand drives perception, preference, top-of-mind awareness, higher fees, and so on. So why can't service firms reap the same benefits?

They can, when branding for a service firm is done right. In order to brand your service firm the right way and take advantage of the same benefits that product companies receive from great branding, there are four key distinctions between product and services branding strategy that you need to be aware of.

1. Don't Mass Market To Your Target Market
Product companies sell to the masses through large scale advertising efforts. Following in the footsteps of these companies, many service firms, when attempting to build their brand, start advertising to the masses as if they were selling Wrigley's Spearmint Gum or Coca Cola. But for a service brand, this is a waste. It's not targeted enough, and it costs too much, given the return that it provides.

The dynamics of brand implementation are just different for service companies. Service firms need consistent articulation of their value proposition across all touch points of the marketing and sales process.

While catchy jingles during primetime TV might work for a product company, they are simply inappropriate for service firms. But the right marketing program that "touches" your prospects regularly with highly targeted messages will increase awareness and recognition, so the next time you call to schedule a meeting, they're more likely to take it.

2. Focus On Relevance Over Differentiation
Differentiation is important to product companies. Most brand models (and business schools) argue the need to differentiate. But it is a rare service brand that can stake the claim to categorical differentiation. Let's face it, many service firms offer similar services. As such, it is difficult to own a unique market position. So forget about those product oriented, one-word descriptions.

Instead of attempting to be amazingly different from the rest, focus on being relevant. Specifically, relevance as it pertains to the client. The ideal service brand merges the needs, wants, and desires of the client with the character and values of the company.

The key lies in creating a space where customer needs meet company essence, an ideal combination of rational and emotional attributes that apply to both groups. This common ground approach develops a brand that not only resonates with the client by delivering what is important to them, but also develops a brand that is genuine, appropriate, and defensible by the company.

By staking a claim for what you stand for, communicating how you help your clients succeed, and communicating how reliable you are in doing this, you'll develop a unique identity. Most service firms don't have the stick-to-it ability to get this far, but if they do, they'll stand out in the market.

3. Worry About Growing Revenue, Not Market Share
Product companies are taught that they must be number one or two, in terms of market position, to be successful. Service brands should concentrate on growing revenue, not gaining market share, as product companies do.

In a service industry, whether it be accounting, law, architecture, or consulting, even local markets are usually fragmented and crowded with many successful firms generating considerable revenue from like-services.

Instead of concerning yourself with your position in the market, focus your efforts on improving the bottom line.

4. Help Your People Be Your Brand
Service firms do not have a tangible display of products that you can see, touch, and test out before deciding to purchase. As a service firm, your face to the world, what carries your brand most is your people. As such, do not underestimate the internal components of brand development.

To create a collaborative culture, communicate your brand message to the troops so that each individual becomes a brand ambassador. This helps to ensure that every sales call, every client interaction, and every elevator conversation delivers the brand as intended.

Don't attempt to be Big Brother, but do provide a rallying point for the entire organization, because "speaking in one voice" is far more important for service firms who rely on direct, one-to-one interaction with clients.

What Is This Really All About?
A successful brand is really about a client-centric approach tied closely to the firm's business strategy. Even in its simplest form, brands offer tangible benefits to the vast majority of service firms. So, think strategically, roll up your sleeves, and you can expect the following out of a well developed and implemented brand:

• A genuine and defensible market position

• Improved external awareness, perception, and desirability

• The development of a collaborative internal culture

• Alignment and integration of all messaging

• Revenue growth

• I'll add one final note about branding: your marketing materials are important, but don't go overboard.

Consumer brands focus on their position in the market and differentiation, using the pretty designs of a brochure, website, or advertisement to play a large role in driving their brand and growing their market share. But for service brands, good design is just one supporting part of success. We must take a fundamentally different approach than consumer brands to attain the same results.

What matters is having a process that drives revenue growth over the long term; the pretty pictures are just along for the ride. So learn from Apple, FedEx and Volvo. Adopt the idea of brand, but apply it to the particular needs of service firms.

Wellesley Hills Group, a consulting and marketing services firm that helps service companies to grow. Robert can be reached at rcroston@whillsgroup.com. 

 Law 1
Never Outshine the Master