Business Uses for Pinterest

Pinterest—is it really so unique it coined its own word? Maybe. What’s certain is there are some valuable uses small businesses can get out of Pinterest. While it’s not a necessity, it can serve as an effective marketing tool when used correctly.  If you aren’t familiar with this social media site, a user creates boards that they pin to. Pins are images associated with how-to’s and popular trends from another website or something you created yourself. You can have an unlimited number of boards for multiple subjects and you can re-pin items from anyone else’s board. It’s a method of organizing your interests, kind of like an inspiration/projects bulletin board. Now that you know what it is, try implementing these uses for a company Pinterest page.

Employee boards are great for companies that have visual representations of their work such as a salon, restaurant, or one with popular products. Each employee can have one board that they post to that will showcase their work. This not only organizes and displays some of your business’ best work but is also fun for each employee and a means of encouraging excellent performance. Consider, on the flipside, customer boards. They could post how they are using your products to inspire other customers. Similar to a blog but more visually dynamic, you could have a Pinterest board for ideas and tutorials, using your products. You can even hold contests that require the use of your products and services to create something new. (For example, an art project contest that uses a specific shade of the paint you sell).

Sharing a wide variety of content is effective here and you can link to your own work or blog as well as others in the industry. Finally, contests are a great method of interaction for customers and it also promotes your products while offering incentives for loyal customers.

Can you think of other uses for Pinterest? Try those out as well! In today’s social media connected culture, it can only help you. Make it happen.

Should I Update or Customize My Packaging?

When you receive a package in the mail, more often than not in comes in a white padded envelope or brown box, right? If it’s been a month since you placed the order, you might squint at the package in confusion and wonder: Where is this from again? It used to be that standard UPS boxes were the norm, customized packaging was rare, and personal touches didn’t matter too much. In 2013, more and more small businesses and big companies alike are creating stand-out, unique packaging for orders shipped out to their customers. It doesn’t stop there—some businesses are personalizing everything, in store and for shipping, from tissue paper to receipts. So do you need to customize your packaging to stay in the game?

The answer is it certainly can’t hurt; it can only help you to be memorable in the customer’s mind. The packaging doesn’t have to be elaborate and sometimes less is more. Adding stylish details such as a label with sketches that represent your products can do the trick. Sometimes bold colors with the company logo are the best route to go, or depending on the type of products you carry, you may want to add embellishments such as ribbons, beads, or trinkets. The key is to choose elements that match your industry, use for the product, and that fit your budget and brand.

Packaging sells and some customers, myself included, have chosen one product over another product because of the packaging extras included with the item. When it comes to packaging for mailing, the new concept is for the customer to feel like they are receiving a gift (even if the product is something practical such as a new doorknob). If you have the budget, you might want to outsource this to a graphic design or marketing company who can create a whole line of packaging ideas for you. For brainstorming, look on sites such as Etsy and Pinterest to get you started. Make it happen!

© 2013 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

Unique Ways to Use Your Logo

So you’re familiar with your logo—it’s on your business cards, your company stationary, and your website. There are many places that may be appropriate for your logo. Are you using all of them to your advantage? Let’s look at unique ways to use your logo.

Put it on a car (or truck, or van).  This gets your logo moving around a several mile radius. You can make the logo prominent on your delivery trucks, company cars, and sales team’s vehicles. What if you don’t use any cars or trucks for your company? Ask every day people in your neighborhood to put their logo on their cars. You will pay them a small stipend and they will be happy to do this. This is a trend that is definitely rising.

Have your logo appear on all your materials. Boxes, tissue paper, tape, and bags should all have your logo on it. If you provide services without products, put your logo on pens, booklets, clipboards and other items you use to present your services. This makes your logo memorable.

Think outside the box with promotional items. Be creative and offer things that fit your business such as a Frisbee for a sporting goods store or a wine opener for a winery. People will actually use these items, see your logo, and think of your company.

Sponsor a league. It can be little league, a bowling team, a golf team, or any local sports team who can put your logo on their shirts, hats, and on banners at events. You can reach a large audience and people will ask about your company. This is like having others do the marketing for you!

There are more unique ways of using your logo so start with these and brainstorm for more. Take full advantage of your logo and all it can do for you. Make it happen!

© 2013 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

Don't Over-Brand Yourself

As an entrepreneur and emerging business man or woman, you often hear how important it is to “brand yourself”: find your niche, your catchphrase, the product or service you are for which you are known. While this self-branding concept is important to bring attention to you and your business, you need to be careful not to over-do it. You want people to know you as you, not your tagline. So what are some guidelines to creating a name that sticks, but doesn’t stick too well?

The great thing about finding a tagline that’s original is that you can build other phrases around it to represent other features of your business so it becomes you own personal set of products, services, and advertising that people remember. When choose that first one, make sure it is something that can either blanket many parts of your business with some variations or something that you can change readily without too much confusion for your customers.

Once you build a bigger audience, you can expand away from your first set of branding because now that people know very well who you are, they can follow you when you make changes. So even though you may start out with something like “Beauty for the Nature Lover”, you can still branch out with a new campaign such as “Evergreen Women’s Clothing” in the future.

When it comes to that first catch phrase, use it the right doses. For example, if it’s on the walls of your store and on your product labels, you may want to keep it off receipts and mix up the wording on other print materials. Small print items such as coupons and receipts are good places to test out new slogans and campaigns because the customer will always receive them when they purchase and it many prompt them to ask you for more info.

That being said, it is important to find your focus. If you focus on growing one successful area of your business, it can exceed your expectations and grow to epic proportions. If you put a little effort into several things across the board, it will be much more difficult to grow anything very much. Bottom line: find a niche and concentrate on growing it, and when you think it’s reached its full potential find another niche that branches off from that one to keep you, the business owner, fresh in the minds of customers. Make it happen!

© 2012 eMarketing 4 Business LLC