Was it tennis star Andre Agassi that proclaimed, "Image is everything!" in his popular commercials?
Your business image is an important tool for your success because it can either add to the overall perception your customers have about you or it can leave prospects wondering if they really want to take a chance on dealing with such an amateurish or careless business.
Image results from a lot of characteristics and visual clues about your business, but we're going to mention just two of the more important things you can do to portray your desired message in this post.
The first is to create a professional logo for your business. It doesn't matter what industry niche or subject you have chosen for your enterprise, no business is too small to have a professional logo.
There are hundreds of companies, both online and offline, that will create a logo at your request. Stay away from homemade images, in most cases, unless you really know what you're doing. A bad logo is not much better than no logo. It tells your customers, "I don't really care how people view me, and I'm too cheap to worry about it."
I would also recommend you avoid generic logos. There are companies that will take a generic image of some sort (like a diamond, a tree, the sun, a computer, etc.) and add your company name to it and that's your logo. You'll pay about $25 online for this product.
It's probably better than nothing, but rarely will your company be properly branded with this type of solution. Who wants other businesses in the same niche or otherwise to have the same logo image that you are using?
If you search the Internet for "business logo" you will find an amazing number of companies and freelance designers willing to do the job for you within a few days to a week's time and for anywhere from $150-$800 for a custom job. You should be able to find a well-qualified designer firm that will provide an excellent product for about $350 or less.
Often the difference in price is related to the number of "draft ideas" you select from. If you tend to not be too picky, 3 design alternatives should give you something to begin with. If you're the hard to please type, you may want to look at 6-8 initial designs.
Most designers will allow you ample feedback and input to tweek and modify their design concepts in ways that will make the draft logos more to your personal liking.
I really believe the best logos are sometimes the simplest. Beware of logo designs that are too "busy" looking or have too many colors or too much writing. These can be confusing, send multiple messages, and are not easily reproduced (especially at smaller image sizes.)
Pick your business image carefully and thoughtfully. You don't want to begin to establish a brand and then have to scrap it down the road for some reason and start over.
The best suggestion I can give about choosing a design and a firm is to spend some time looking at the portfolios of some designers that you choose. Note the designs you like the best and who created them.
Typically, you will begin to appreciate the talent of a few individuals that produce multiple logos that you admire. These are the designers that will most likely be able to satisfy your tastes and preferences.
Besides your logo, it is important to utilize a quality letterhead, envelopes, and business cards for your company. If you try to get by with your child's loose-leaf notebook paper or homemade business cards, of course your business image will suffer.
Keep it simple and be sure to add your logo and complete contact information. I would suggest sticking with white paper as it makes the perfect backdrop for easy reading and for highlighting your logo image.
I forgot to mention this earlier, but keep your logo uncluttered and of preferably two colors.
When you have a full- or multi-colored image, it becomes more difficult to reproduce and will look "weird" in some browsers because the color registers differently.
Two colors will look good on your letterhead and it will reproduce more consistently in black and white copies and faxes.
Cluttered logos, those that try to fit too many graphics or words in one image, may look impressive when they're on a large sign, but what about their appearance on your tiny business cards? Simple graphics look much better when they're reduced as we mentioned previously.
Strive to present your business in the best light possible at all times. Brand your business with your logo and put it on everything: your web site, your letterhead, faxes, invoices, receipts, business cards, emails, products, advertising, shipping labels, you name it . . .
