The document discusses the importance of branding and promoting a business. It emphasizes that branding builds awareness, trust and loyalty for a business. Successful branding requires consistency in advertising, defining a sell line, having good customer service and controlling the company image. The document also provides many suggestions for low-cost promotion methods including social media, press releases, partnering with other businesses and more.

1. Branding & Promoting Your Business Presented by Rick Gosser Gosser Corporate Sales Inc

2. Promoting your business is one of the primary keys to solvency There is no point in having a product or service to offer in the marketplace if you don’t let anyone know it exists

3. Words Worth Remembering Running a business without advertising is like winking at a pretty lady in the dark. You know exactly what you’re doing—but no one else does. Issac Williamson

4. Q: I hear a lot about “ Branding ,” but I’m not sure what it means. Do I have to be concerned about it as a small business owner? A: ABSOLUTELY Brand building is simply a new label for a collection of functions that have always been necessary to make a business successful, requiring efforts in several areas to: Increase the public’s awareness of your business name and logo Build a strong company “essence” that inspires loyalty and trust in your current customers and provides a level of familiarity and comfort to draw in potential customers

5. BRANDING Your BRAND is intangible It has nothing to do at all with any real estate, inventory or vehicle fleets that you may count as assets It refers to the reputation behind your company’s name and logo Can You Complete These Power Slogans: Just do it _____________ That was easy _________ We’ll leave the light on _________ ____

6. So what goes into building your BRAND ? CONSISTENCY IN ADVERTISING DECIDE WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS THAT YOUR COMPETITORS CAN’T AND HAMMER AWAY AT THOSE POINTS IN EVERY AD CREATE A “SELL LINE” THAT DEFINES YOUR COMPANY IN A NUTSHELL AND USE IT CUSTOMER SERVICE ONLY EMPLOY PEOPLE WHO CAN GET ON BOARD WITH YOUR BRAND AND UNDERSTANDS THEIR PART IN BUILDING IT GET RID OF EMPLOYEES WHO WON’T COOPERATE-EVEN IF THEY’RE RELATED TO YOU!

7. So what goes into building your BRAND ? PUBLIC RELATIONS KEEP PROMISES YOU MAKE. SEE THAT YOUR CUSTOMERS AREN’T DISAPPOINTED WITH WHAT THEY FIND ONCE YOUR ADVERTISING GETS THEM THROUGH THE DOOR BE A GOOD CITIZEN GET INVOLVED WITH COMMUNITY PROJECTS WHERE YOUR BUSINESS CAN DO SOMETHING POSITIVE YOUR WILLINGNESS TO USE THE INTERNET A COMPANY WITH NO WEB PRESENCE IS ARCHIAC GET IT DONE NOW

8. Promote, Promote, Promote Use Press Releases Know how to write them Remember there is never a guarantee they will run Tie Into Community Events & Holidays Become Involved in your community Have every employee give out business cards and leave them where they shop, eat, etc.

9. Create a QR Code… Direct it to: Plain Text Website URL Telephone Number SMS Message Email Address Email Message Contact Details (VCARD) Event (VCALENDAR) Google Maps Location Wifi Login (Android Only) Paypal Buy Now Link Social Media iTunes Link YouTube Video www.qrstuff.com

11. SOCIAL MEDIA, WHY or better yet? WHY NOT? Increase Your Company Awareness… Since August 2011… 6 new accounts that are now doing business with GCS Inc. $2,313 in sales… FANS: 238 LIKES 506 Friends on my personal page Increase Your Company Knowledge 337 Followers… Following 293… Generated $6,000 from tweets since 2009 290 Connections… FREE webinars for you to learn more about the benefits. People LOVE to connect and refer, refer, refer

12. Gosser Corporate Sales Inc. Facebook Fan Page

13. Twitter… Tweet… Twit… The FEAR of TWITTER

14. Linked IN… I don’t know many people, but my connections DO!

15. Promote, Promote, Promote Conduct Group-Business Workshops Ask that your employees wear apparel that has the name of your company on it Give out Promotional items (pens, pencils, hats, key chains, magnets, rulers, etc) Have a “Buddy System” for mailing out information Provide support material (brochures, etc.)

16. Promote, Promote, Promote Ask for feedback from employees & customers Obtain email addresses from everyone Determine each customer’s mailing address Have Gift Certificates available for sale Seek Celebrity Endorsements (I’m one!) Send out “Thank You” cards Volunteer. Have your employees volunteer. Constantly update your Website, weekly!

17. Promote, Promote, Promote Have bottled water with company name on it Have a CD or a DVD on your company Have Secret Sales (Postcard has discount scratch off) Have Wine & Cheese parties for best customers Create and send out a Company newsletter Give out novelty items (pens, hats, mugs, etc) Call best customers and tell them about a sale Have a “We’ll Come and Pick You Up Sale”.

18. Promote, Promote, Promote Write an article for the local newspaper Go on radio and television. Give advice on a product or service Attend school events Use blogs, blogs, and more blogs Have Joint Venture Mailings and Events Go after former customers and ask them why they no longer are customers. Ask them to be completely honest.

19. Blogs… What do I write?

20. Just any idea that you think about that benefit a reader…

21. Let us do what we do best, so that you do what you do best Hiring us to make your custom apparel is easy, just let us do the work. I recently spent hours emailing back and forth to a client trying to get her logo in a format we could use to make her t-shirts for her in 2-days. She kept sending me the artwork with the text in her file being corrupt, etc. I finally called her and she said “I’m not a graphic designer”, “I’m a director of marketing”. I could have saved her lots of time and aggravation if she would have told me from the start that she was using Corel Draw to create her artwork. My point is “Do what you do best and let us do what we do best”. In this case, the director of marketing should have spent her valuable time marketing her company to potential clients, etc. and not spending her time creating logos. Let us do the work and create your logos so that we can make your screen printed t-shirts or custom embroidered apparel. Here is a logo that we converted and printed digitally for a new client: Digital printed dri-fit shirts Here is a logo that we converted to embroidery for a new client: Grimmer Gladiator Embroidered Next time you want to create your logo, please re-consider that thought and hire a graphic designer so we can do what we do best and you can do what you do best.

22. Promote, Promote, Promote Have a “Going After Business Sale” Have a “Manager’s Out of Town Sale” Have a “Friday the 13th Sale-You’re the Lucky One Sale Barter, Barter, Barter… More and more businesses are doing this Pray, Pray, Pray Don’t QUIT, Don’t QUIT, Don’t QUIT, Don’t QUIT

23. How to Ask for Referrals and Get More Clients Asking for Referrals Is Not as Hard As You Think You see, for whatever reason, many small business people don't bother with referrals. So do you want to get more clients? Then set aside your sqeamishness and force yourself to get in the habit of asking for a referral from every satisfied customer.

24. How to Get Over Your Fear of Asking for Referrals Remember that most people like to help other people (if there is no negative cost to them). Remind yourself that the worst that can happen is that the client says, "No". That's not too terrible, is it? Make asking for a referral part of your project routine. With most projects, there's a last meeting with the client, a perfect time to ask for a referral.

25. Tips for Asking for Referrals Referrals should always be asked for face-to-face. It's not only more respectful of your clients but more successful. People will always be more likely to do something for someone else if the person is standing right in front of them. Never ask for a referral when presenting a bill. The time that you're asking for referrals is also an excellent time to ask a client for a testimonial , a short written endorsement of your company and/or your work that you can use on your website if you have one and in your other marketing materials such as brochures.

26. TESTIMONIALS HOW DO YOUR OBTAIN A TESTIMONIAL? CUSTOMER SERVICE MAKE A PROMISE, KEEP IT! DELIVER ON-TIME, YOU SAID YOU WOULD GUARANTEE YOUR QUALITY & SERVICE

27. Ten Low-Cost Ways To Promote Your Business Business promotion “is to running a successful business” as practicing scales “is to playing the piano well”; it may not be a thrilling activity in itself, but you just have to do it! Writing articles on topics related to your business expertise is an excellent business promotion technique. Free Press Releases. Sending out press releases is another great way to get some free business promotion.

28. Ten Low-Cost Ways To Promote Your Business FREE – Create Social Media Campaign… Facebook Fan Page, Twitter, Linked In If you're an Internet user, spend some of your online time on business promotion. Use buddy marketing to promote your business. Partner up with another business.

29. Ten Low-Cost Ways To Promote Your Business Give out freebies as business promotion. People like FREE things 7. Promote your business on a talk show. 8. Promote your business by giving a seminar or presentation.

30. Top Ten Ways To Promote Your Business 9. Use your vehicle to promote your business. Mobile business promotion isn't just for white delivery vans. Where I live, one in every four vehicles has the name and phone number of a business decorating one of the windows or doors. 10. Promote your business through your leisure activities. Running, exercising, vacations Where's the harm in shopping or rock-climbing wearing a T-shirt that has the name of your business prominently displayed?

31. These 10 business promotion ideas are just some of the ways you can promote your small business without spending a small fortune. With a little experimentation and time, you'll find out which of these ideas work best for you - and best get the word out about your small business.

32. Two Roads Final Thoughts Your attitude determines your altitude There’s no “Silver Bullet” for success. It’s a constant journey on a challenging and rewarding road The Magic Within. We are Magical People Vision Of Sales and The Road Less Traveled

33. I leave you with this from Dr. Robert Kauffman when I asked him how everything was going 2 weeks ago today LATE TO BED… EARLY TO RISE… AND ADVERTISE, ADVERTISE, ADVERTISE…

34. THANK YOU! Gosser Corporate Sales Inc. To IMPROVE your business identity and CREATE MORE name recognition have your employees wear company embroidered LOGOWEAR Custom Embroidered Company Logowear on Apparel EMBROIDERY, SCREEN & DIGITAL PRINTING for EVERY Business ADVERTISING PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS , over 1 million imprinted items TEAM DEALER ... One Stop Shop Solution For ALL Sports! www.gossercorpsales.com