By Jonathan Fields - Small Business Trends:
* Label Your Takeaway products – One of the fastest easiest ways to get people to literally pay to help brand you is to add labels, logos and brand ID to items they already buy. So, for example, if you have a restaurant and people take out food, add […]

Lawn & Landscape:
Here are some inexpensive ideas about how to manage the powerful basics of your brand:
1. Do what you say you are going to do. Positive experiences cause customers to tell their friends. Don’t miss deadlines and always try to “underpromise and overdeliver” on quality and features, not the other way around.
2. […]

Unusual Business Ideas That Work:
In a standard custom logo assignment, the average graphic designer develops six concepts for evaluation by the business owner client. Only one of those will be used, leaving five creative logos to be stored away—and probably never seen again. Enter IncSpring, a beta site that aims to help designers with ideas […]

Branding Blog By Brand Identity Guru:
1. It “sells itself.” I don’t need to market
Okay, you might have a solid product or service. You might even routinely satisfy your customers. They might even send their friends and family to you. But wait. Is that your product or service selling itself? No (that is, unless your widgets […]

Entrepreneur.com:
* Assess your brand promise. Your brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services, and it differentiates your offering from your competitor’s. Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to be. Your brand […]

The Franchise Magazine:
If you’ve ever looked at a national brand and thought “how can I compete with that?”, the answer might come by securing your own national brand through franchising.
In a recent survey* of franchisees, 19 per cent revealed that their primary reason for selecting their franchise was the “well known brand”. This sentiment is […]

GreatFX Business Cards:
McDonald’s has the golden arches, Coca-Cola the scripted font, and Apple… a multicolored apple. A logo is probably one of the most important elements of marketing your business. As your business develops, your logo will become synonymous with the quality of service you provide.
Your logo also conveys information to new clientèle. The […]

Okay, it’s not easy to name a business, split it up: Kids Exchange.
Now make sure you never display your logos like this

BizThreads.net:
What Does A Good Brand Strategy Involve?
A good brand strategy doesn’t just involve designing logos and punch lines. It involves studying the psychology and the requirements and expectations of your intended market before you can put your plan into action.
Here are some methods to ensure that your brand strategy is right on target:
Do a […]

Lawfuel:
Registering a trade mark for the name of your food service business has become more important than ever before.
The media has covered several disputes recently over the trading names for restaurants, cafés and bars.
One story involves the owners of a hotel and wine bar down in Otago trading under the name JAFA’S. The owners […]

Branding Strategy Insider:
While organizations don’t often pursue this protection, logos are typically protectable by copyright law. Make sure your organization, and not an outside person or agency, owns the copyright to your brand’s logo.
Advertising/marketing agencies will often include an assignment of rights, titles and interests (including copyright interests) to their clients in their letters of […]

The New York Times:
Looking to stand out - or at least stay employed - in the current deteriorating economy? Judith Sills, a psychologist, suggests becoming your own brand.
‘If your reputation is what people say about you, especially behind your back, and your résumé is what you say about yourself, especially on paper, your brand is […]

By Jason Blanton from Success For Your Blog via Blogging Tips:
Everything you do as a blogger can be duplicated by others on just about every level. The one thing you can do to help protect your blogs identity and separate it from the others is to build your brand. Having a strong brand is what […]

MSNBC:
Many small businesses are good at pursuing a relationship with customers, but they aren’t as good at nurturing it. Nurturing a relationship allows you to reinforce your brand and increase brand loyalty. This also helps you weather the storms of increasing competition. For example, your competitor may drop its price, but your customers will remain […]

Entrepreneur:
1. Create an affiliate program. A good affiliate network allows you to grow your e-business efficiently and affordably, channeling additional traffic to your site without the expense of pay-per-click advertising. Provide your affiliates with links and ads that carry your branding message.
2. Start or contribute to a blog. Look for a highly trafficked and searched […]

Area Developer:
As a means of expediting growth of existing brands and providing world-class franchise resources for new brand introductions, franchise executive Terry Powell, a 25-year veteran of the franchise industry and founder of The Entrepreneur’s Source, has launched FranchisEsource Brands International (FSBI), a multi-brand franchisor principally engaged in growing solid concepts into major international franchise […]

MoMB:
GeniusRocket connects your creative talent with challenger brands to give you the chance to earn real money.
Blog
* GeniusRocket.com – Connecting Artists and Advertisers

The Closet Entrepreneur:
1. Develop your own personal marketing plan - Include your personal mission statement: what on earth are you here for? What do you hope to achieve in your lifetime? Specify your short-tem and long-term goals, and plan your timeline to achieve your goals. Include detailed strategies and action steps, and don’t forget to […]

Entrepreneur Daily:
They’re called the consumer group most motivated to vote with their dollars, and advertisers are catching on. According to this MediaPost article, a Harris Interactive survey found that about 70% of gay men and lesbians say they’ve switched products after finding out a company had offensive policies against the gay community. Even if a […]

Small Business Branding:
Consumers are exposed to over 3,000 marketing messages a day. TV spots, radio ads, billboards, logos on t-shirts, packaging labels, coupons in the mail, pop up ads on the internet, kids selling cookies at the door – they are everywhere.
And yet you think the consumers you want to talk to are going to […]