What can brown do for you?

I’ve always loved that UPS tagline: “What can brown do for you?” It not only extended the UPS brand by taking ownership of a color, but implied a wide and diverse range of capabilities. Rather than suggest benefits themselves, the UPS guys invited their customers to imagine (and then ask for) a service that was relevant  and valuable to them.

I think it’s a great tactic to use in this tough economy. Rather than sniff around to see if someone needs a new website, or is looking to revamp a brand identity, simply ask what it is you can do to help.

In his recent blog entry, “Easiest way to dramatically increase sales,” Seth Godin suggests calling or writing your customers and asking: “I know that times might be tough for you. Is there anything I can do to pitch in and help?”

I tried it Monday and was rewarded immediately by two requests I never would have imagined. Neither are giant gigs, but both are opportunities to get back in with valued clients and help them during a tough time.

To paraphrase JFK’s famous inaugural line: Ask not what your clients can do for you, but rather what you can do for your clients.

Remaking America

“Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”

WASHINGTON – Stepping into history, Barack Hussein Obama grasped the reins of power as America’s first black president on Tuesday, declaring the nation must choose “hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord” to overcome the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Is your website ready for 2009?

I want to share an offer from creative coach Rashelle Roberts of inVision regarding updating your brand for the coming year.

When was the last time you took an honest, critical look at your own website? Does it genuinely reflect where your business is at? Is it attracting the clients you really want?

Is your website ready for 2009? Your website is probably your main point of contact with clients and prospects. So make sure your site and all your marketing tools are up-to-date and ready to get you business in this tough market.

First, update your vision. Before you update your website, you may need to update your vision. It’s natural that your business changes and evolves over time. The goals we set years or even months ago may no longer be relevant.

inVision can help. Here’s how:

1.     FREE WEB REVIEW. We’ll provide a free one-hour review of your current website and deliver a professional at-a-glance assessment of its strengths and weaknesses.

2.     COACHING SESSIONS. Next, for a short time, we’re offering a special rate of only $600 for 5 sessions, when we’ll work one-on-one to update your vision and plans for 2009 and beyond.

3.     NEW MESSAGING. Following those sessions, we can help you develop new messaging that expresses your updated brand. With cost varying, based on your specific needs, we’ll ensure that your website content effectively engages your clients.

Contact us today for details.

RaShelle Roberts

inVision

702-730-1955 

One more thought on resolutions

Making resolutions, setting goals — they can be a pain in the neck.

After all, if you don’t have a goal, Seth Godin points out in his blog, “then you can just do your best. You can take what comes. You can repriortize on a regular basis.”

“The thing about goals is that living without them is a lot more fun, in the short run.”

 “It seems to me, though,” Seth writes, “that the people who get things done, who lead, who grow and who make an impact … those people have goals.”

It’s worth reminding ourselves as well that to make those goals even more relevant, we need to write them down. Read them often. Memorize them. And move — step by step — toward their achievement.

Adding the human touch

Experienced Realtors may disagree, but we believe there are big advantages in featuring people when creating marketing photography for architecture and real estate.

In this image art-directed by Ron Leland of Real Life Brand Architecture for his wife Liz’s landscape architecture business, the inclusion of people in the staging lends a sense of scale and, perhaps more importantly, establishes a more personal, emotional connection for the viewer.

Certainly, you don’t want faces or clothing that distract from the architecture. But Bill Thompson of Thompson Photography gets around  this with a slight motion blur that retains the emotional quality we’re after. 

For us, that human touch helps these images stand apart from the sterile “just hand me the wide-angle lens” approach of conventional real estate photography.