With spring in the air, it is that time of year we all get an itch to clean out our homes, get rid of junk and freshen up our lives before heading into the summer months. Here is an article that I found interesting about "spring cleaning" your business image.
4 Ways To Spring Clean Your Brand
Brands are organic -- they grow and change over time. Without a regular review, they can become stale. To give your brand a good
dusting off this season, consider the following:
1. Re-evaluate your audience.
This past week I was doing a brand renewal session with one
of my clients, an executive coach who works with solopreneurs and small group
practices in the health care field. We looked at her current ideal client
profile and realized that she needed to adjust her target audience to include
the larger health care system as well. Taking a fresh look at your audience at
least once a year gives you the opportunity to trim the fat, get rid of the
deadwood and plan to go after markets that can become a source of new business.
Ask yourself: Is it time to adjust the clients and customers
I serve by either starting or stopping work with a particular audience?
2. Update your offerings.
In today's world, business climates and customer needs shift
on an ongoing basis. Spring is a great time to step back and take a closer look
at current industry trends, significant changes in the markets you serve, and
what your competitors are doing -- all balanced, of course, by the financial
impact of what you offer. For example, if you have services that cost you more
than they generate in the long-term, consider dropping them from your offering.
Likewise, there may be services or products you either aren't providing or
aren't promoting sufficiently that have the potential to be highly profitable.
Ask yourself: What services and products do I need to start
promoting, offering or retire to better serve my customer base and improve my
profitability?
3. Spruce up your social media profiles.
Recently I went to the LinkedIn page of one of my new
clients. Not only was his profile light on content (no recommendations and
sketchy bio details), but much of it was obsolete as well. I wish I could say
this was just a freak anomaly -- but I can't. Outdated social media profiles
are the most common (and easily fixed) branding mistake I run across when I
begin working with a new client.
Refresh all your social media profiles this time of year by
making sure you have added a current photo, website URL, company name and
position. Include new projects, publications or other relevant achievements. In
addition, if you have a branded visual look for your website, carry it through
to your Twitter and Facebook backgrounds.
Ask yourself: Are the profiles I have up on LinkedIn,
Twitter and Facebook as complete as I can make them and do they reflect who I
am today?
4. Take stock of what's being said.
Enter your personal and business name into a Google search
and see what comes up. What articles, blog posts and other content are
determining how you are being branded on the Internet? For an even deeper look,
set up a Google Alert for yourself and your company so that anytime you get
mentioned in cyberspace, you're notified.
It's surprising how infrequently people do this. While you
can't control what comes up on a Google search, you can take actions via SEO,
link building and other activities to bring certain items higher up or lower
down on the search results.
Ask yourself: Do I have any out-of-date or undesirable
information coming up in searches that's within my power to remove or update?
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