Branding Audit Checklist


When was the last time you audited your brand? If it's been more than a year, it's time.

Your brand is more than your logo - a lot more. It's also more than all the pieces you can touch or look at. But all of those pieces need to be just right to pull their weight as part of your marketing strategy.

Click here to download a checklist (.pdf) you can use to keep track of your progress.

Too busy, you say? This is a great job to delegate because a different set of eyes may catch things you won't.

A great option is to find another business owner you can partner with. You audit their brand and they audit yours.

Take a moment now to add a branding audit to your to-do list or calendar.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

3 Questions That Need Answering: Lessons Learned From My Lunch and Learn

Image
(Guest post by Mike Tanner) I recently (like, earlier today) had the pleasure of speaking to a room full of close to 50 people on a topic near and dear to my heart: podcasting. Now I’m not going to sit here and give you a recap of that talk. If you want the VERY basic details you can find them on my website but you’ll never recapture the magic that we all shared in that room that day... Instead, I’d like to talk about three questions that I was asked during the talk and how they relate to running your own business, podcasting or otherwise. How Much Do You Charge Someone To Sponsor a Podcast? Pricing is complicated. It’s a fact. Ask anyone who does consulting or coaching or training or anything where there’s not a defined cost or supply and demand issue, and they will tell you that pricing is one of the most difficult things to figure out. Whether you’re trying to figure out how to price your course or how much to charge for web copy or how much to charge a sponsor to be a...
Keep reading »

Use Linked In to keep your Contact List Up-to-date

Image
You can export your connections from Linked In and import them into your Outlook address book or other contact list database.  On the MY CONNECTIONS page, in the bottom right corner, click on EXPORT CONNECTIONS.  Follow the directions to easily create a spreadsheet of all your Linked In connections.   Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »

Perpetual One-question Survey = Evergreen Content

Image
You and I both know it can be a lot of work to keep the content machine going - blogging, email marketing, social media and more. When I find an idea I can execute in 15 minutes that will give me social media posts and blog content (plus market intelligence) for years, I'm all over that. It's easier to explain if I give you an example - here's my own one-question survey: What is your content creation stumbling block?   Why run a one-question survey? You get market intelligence which is a fancy way of saying you can find out about your target market's problems, or preferences, or habits, or whatever you want to find out. I was curious to know what it is about blogging that people struggle with the most because I want to write articles that are helpful. You get three kinds of content: Calls-to-action to get people to complete your survey - on social feeds, in your newsletter, on your blog, in your email signature, and so on. Sharing the results periodically - on social...
Keep reading »

Leave Out the Parts People Skip

Image
Has anyone really read every word of Gone with the Wind ? Be honest now. I've read it twice and I remember skipping whole pages of scene-setting descriptive text. When I read this quote by Elmore Leonard, whose books I read, it resonated with me. "I try to leave out the parts people skip." ( click to tweet this ) This is a great principle for marketing , too. Recall those bags of brochures and business cards you've thrown out after conferences. What's the practical application? Have a look at your website with a fresh eye from the perspective of your ideal client . Better yet, have one of your ideal clients take a look. Ask them to 'browse' and then find out what they skimmed over, or skipped completely. You can also do this for your brochures and bios, your articles and newsletters. You could even get carried away and do an audit of all your marketing materials . Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »

Keeping in Touch

Image
Photo:  Wim Mulder One of the most common reasons for starting a newsletter is to keep in touch with clients, past clients, prospects, colleagues, suppliers and other contacts with the purpose of staying top of mind . I have said that this shouldn't be your only reason for having a newsletter but, in fact, sometimes that’s just what it is. "I'm just writing to say hello..." Here are some questions to consider: Do you still have to give value to succeed at keeping in touch? Do you even need your readers to open your email to achieve that? If you’re not giving value , what reason do you have for emailing? How often do you need to email your contacts to stay top of mind? This might be a factor of how often your readers would need/want your product or service. Remember, if you want someone to know you're thinking about them , a card by snail mail is more appropriate. Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »

Your Marketing Made Easy

Image
We have a LOT of options when it comes to our online marketing. The choices can be staggering, often leading to no action at all. Yesterday I had the opportunity to participate as a facilitator at the Your Marketing Made Easy conference in Regina, SK. 10 facilitators, 16 workshops - covering topics like social media, blogging, email marketing, SEO, event marketing, web usability, and so much more. It was a fun and inspiring day! My only regret is that I didn't get to attend many of the workshops put on by the other facilitators. photo by  Alvil Tayco on Twitter Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »

Slice Words to Save Money

Image
If you're beating around the bush, you're wasting time and possibly money. Neil Everton of Podium Media and Communications Coaching suggests we look at our writing with a critical eye and ask: "Am I prepared to pay $1 for every word I've written?" Unproductive words and phrases abound. I've written before about wimpy phrases to avoid ; here are some slightly pretentious ones to also slice out. “Due to the fact that...” Use “because” at the beginning, or rearrange the sentence to use it in the middle. “For the most part...” Eliminate this one completely without changing your meaning. “In my opinion...” Use “I think” or eliminate it all together. I'm already expecting your opinion if I'm reading your writing. “On a regular basis...” Save $3 here by using “regularly” or “always” at the end of the sentence instead. “The first step is to...” Chop out 4 words and simply use “first”. Using more words doesn't mean you'll get read...
Keep reading »

9 Types of Customer Generated Content

Image
Do you want more customers like the ones you already have? You can use experiences with your current customers to develop content that will attract more of the same. Customer-generated content is akin to 'social proof' - it elevates your reputation . By 'content' I mean all the 'stuff' on your website, social media accounts, blog, newsletter, brochures and so on. How do you get your customers to do this work for you? Success stories: Interview a client and write a blog post about it. Or ask them to write it themselves . Or do it live via Blab or Periscope and save the recording to post online. Prepare a few questions in advance so the advantages of using your product or service will be highlighted. Lessons learned and improvement opportunities: Write about a customer service experience and what you learned from it. This doesn't have to be negative. Case studies and examples: This works great if you do project-type work or customization. As abo...
Keep reading »

Count your Contacts: In or Out?

Image
I get it... this anti-spam stuff is onerous and complicated. So you might be thinking that you’ll send your current subscribers a consent request just to be safe. It can’t really hurt anything, can it? Safe, not sorry, right? This is a situation where safety has a significant price tag. Here is an example to show how your current email marketing efforts will be impacted. Let’s say you have a list of 1000 subscribers . (Keep in mind that you may already have express consent from some of them.) We’ll be generous and say you get an average open rate of 25% (industry average is 20%). That means that 250 people open your newsletter, but not always the same 250 people. Out of those 250 who open your email, how many do you think will opt-in? Statistics (and my experience) show that it will be about 30% - in this case, 75 people . With one swift move you've reduced your mailing list from 1000 to 75. Will you continue to publish a newsletter for 75 people? And what about...
Keep reading »

Resist the Urge to Ask

Image
Received this message on Facebook : What is your opinion about sending this kind of email below out? I am on the fence. (I've changed the name on their signature and company for privacy.) "Hi Natasha, We are doing a little organizing and noticed that it's been a while since you have opened any emails or shown any activity via the "XYZ" email subscription. No worries! We value your time! We just want to be sure we are bringing good vibes to the online community whilst not pestering anyone with unwanted emails. Are we bothering you? If you don't want to receive any future emails from us you can click here to unsubscribe from the mailing list. No prob. If you do want to receive these emails then you simply need to do nothing. Keep on keepin' on. Find What Feels Good. Love, A" Consider this: If the motivation for sending something to your list is personal, think twice.  Always give something of value - this email doesn't do that. Your emai...
Keep reading »