Marketing Tip Monday

Consistency in Your Business Brand Image

With the new year, many of us who sell on-line are looking at our Marketing Plans and reviewing 2008, and making plans for 2009.

Your first start should be a review of your logo. Are you consistent? Do you have a shop on Etsy and one on ArtFire? Are the names the same? Do you own your webname?

Example:

http://FunkyQuail.com - we own it and it currently re-directs to the Etsy shop named http://FunkyQuail.Etsy.com. Then on Artfire, we also sell the knitting shirts and some of Becky's painted shirts and that name is http://FunkyQuail.ArtFire.com.

I am a member at Ravelry (an on-line knitting community. My user name? Funky Quail, of course.

Then I am on Twitter. My Twitter name? FunkyQuail!

Oh, and looking for my Flickr page? http://Flickr.com/FunkyQuail

This is all a deliberate effort in branding.

Consistency is the key.

Now is a great time to review your branding. If your Flickr page is one name, your Etsy shop another, and ArtFire yet another, it's time to consider if that is the best strategy for you.

If you have different names, perhaps that is best for your business. Maybe you carry very divergent stock in your different shops, or perhaps one is for supplies and the other for paintings and another for ceramics. But it should be a conscious decision and not one ever done without really thinking about how you want your customers to perceive your business.

And of course, you *do* own your own URL, don't you? NO???? Then get to http://GoDaddy.com and buy it, before some nefarious person snatches it right out from under you!