How to Use Competitive Differentiators to Enhance Your Business’s Brand

Tips to Help You Stand Out from the Competition

In today’s business world, there is a lot of competition among businesses within the same industry. This leaves consumers with a lot of choices regarding who they would like to do business with. Because of this, it is more important than ever for businesses to differentiate themselves from their competition in order to gain brand loyalty and a strong customer base for their organization. Utilizing competitive differentiators in both marketing and sales strategies is one way for businesses to set themselves apart.

What are Your Differentiators?

Every business has differentiators that separate them from their competition – regardless of how competitive a business’s industry is there are aspects of how it operates that is different from everyone else. It is important to identify these differentiators and use them to the business’s advantage. The most popular competitive differentiator that many businesses rely on is price. With so many businesses claiming their pricing makes them different, it is impossible to stand out with just this attribute alone.

Additionally, it is important to evaluate a business’s differentiators based on what they mean to the consumer. If the differentiators the business has defined mean nothing to the consumer, then they really are not true differentiators. Once you have established what differentiators support your business and what aspects are most important to consumers, it will be much easier to market the business to its strengths, creating a much more effective campaign for growing the business overall.

Marketing without Mud Slinging

Business owners play a huge role when it comes to branding and differentiating a business. Much of the reputation of a business lies squarely on their shoulders. When talking to consumers, it is almost necessary to express why a business is better than the others and what makes it stand out. But, as much as this is important, it is also important to communicate these differentiators with dignity and respect – express why the business is better than others by stressing your strengths. When comparing your business with another, the consumer will naturally see that your business stands above the rest.

Using Competitive Differentiators to Your Advantage

Another important part of defining a business’s differentiators is comparing them to the competition. By knowing what competitors are claiming, it will be easier to clearly define what truly sets a business apart from others in the same industry and market those aspects directly. It may also be pertinent to identify weaknesses and see how the business’s strengths offset them – this will help to define further competitive differentiators that can be used to the business’s advantage when marketing to consumers.

Competitive differentiators are the key to successfully marketing any business, regardless of how saturated the industry is. It is important to identify what sets a business apart from other, similar organizations in order to build business and a loyal customer base. Honing in on competitor’s differentiators and weaknesses can help a business truly play to their strengths when marketing. But, it is important to remember to approach addressing why your business is better than others with integrity.

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How to Register a Business Name

Information and Guidelines to Registering Your Business’s Name

Naming a business is an important step in the overall business planning process – this is sometimes thought to be a small detail but is really very important to the overall branding of a company. If a business owner chooses any name other than their own personal name, the name will need to be registered with the state government in which the business resides. This is known as registering the business’s “Doing Business As” or DBA name. Here is some important information about registering a business’s name and what steps need to be taken to make the name official.

“Doing Business As” Name Defined

A “Doing Business As” name, also known as an assumed name or trade name, is a business name that is set apart from a business owner’s personal name or the names of partners. When a business is initially formed, the business’s name automatically defaults to the personal name of the individual who owns it. Because of this, it is important to register the business’s DBA name in order to differentiate the operations of the business from the business owner’s personal records and information. This is also important considering that the legal name of the business is required on many government forms.

Is a “Doing Business Name” Required?

It is important to note that not all states require business’s to be registered with a DBA name – because of this, make sure to check the laws and regulations in your particular state of residency. DBA names are generally required for two situations including business’s that have sole proprietors or partnerships that do not wish to operate their business under their personal name and existing LLCs or corporations that do not wish to do business under the existing organization’s name. If either of these situations apply to you it may be in your best interest, and required by the state, to register the business’s DBA name.

Registering a “Doing Business As” Name

When the business’s “Doing Business As” name has been selected, there are a few different ways in which a business owner can register the name. First, the DBA name may be registered at the local county clerk’s office by filling out a simple application. Another avenue for registration is registering the DBA name with the state government directly – this will depend on where the business is located and if it is feasible to travel to the state capital. Remember that not all states will require a business to register a DBA name so make sure to check your local and state requirements before moving into action.

A business’s name is very important to the business’s branding and image – a name is quite literally the face of your company and making sure that name is registered and protected is extremely important. By determining the business’s unique situation, it will be easier to decide if the name should be registered separately from the business owner’s personal name. Always remember to stay up to date on the latest business requirements that are set forth by both the local and state government in your state of residency to help keep the business in good standing.

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How to Choose Your Business Name

Tips for Creating a Unique Name for Your Business

What would you name your business?

Creating and implementing a business name is an important step in the business planning process. It is important to make sure that the name is unique, reflects the business’s branding and purpose, and is not already being used by another company. It is also important to register and protect the business’s name long-term in order to keep the business’s branding high-level and recognizable. Additionally, business owners should consider how their business’s name will look on the web and in social media – having a business name be Web-ready is crucially important if the business chooses to use this type of platform.

What to Consider When Naming a Business

Many businesses start out as one individual freelancing or working solo. In these cases, using the owner’s name as the business name is acceptable but, once this small operation blooms into a business, it may be time to consider another name. Having a professional name will help the business portray a professional image. But, it is also important to note that throwing any old name out there as a business name is probably not the best course of action. There are some items that all business owners should consider when they are choosing a new business name. 

How the name will look aesthetically, both in print and on the Web? What feelings or connotations does the name evoke in others, either positive or negative? Is the name unique and unclaimed by another business? Answering these questions will help owners create the best possible name for their business and enable them to brand the business properly. Creating a unique name is very important – when considering a name, check into any trademarking associated with it. Violating trademarks can have huge financial consequences and this can even apply to variations of a trademarked name. 

Make Sure Your Business Name is Web and Social Media Ready

One aspect of business name branding that many owners do not consider is making sure the name is Web-ready. This means that the business’s unique URL and domain name is available for use as well as being search engine friendly. There are hundreds of thousands of websites, so it is important to make sure the business’s name can be used online. Along this same line is social media – claim your business’s social media names early in planning process to ensure they are available when the name is finalized. Facebook, for example, allows businesses to set-up and later change their pages and even allows business pages to have vanity URLs.

Registering Your Business Name and Apply for Trademarking

Once a name has been created, it is time to register and trademark the businesses name. Registering the business name tells the state government that you are doing business under the name of the company. In most cases, the business will use its own name as the business. However, if you decide to use a name for legal purposes and another name as the business name, both have to be registered with your state agency. For instance, you would have company Joe Smith, LLC as the legal name as well as Joe's Steak's as your DBA (Doing Business As).

Once this is complete, business owners can also trademark their business name. Trademarking protects the business name, symbols and logos from being used by other business. This will help not only protect the business’s image but also ensure that your business’s name does not get confused with another, unrelated company.

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*Photo Courtesy of Ken Zirkel via Creative Commons License

Turn Your Home Office “Green”

Going Green in Your Small Business

“Going Green” is a hot topic in today’s business market. Being environmentally friendly and relaying on renewable resources is all the rage, and more and more businesses are moving their operations in this direction. Consumers notice when businesses promote themselves in this manner so more resources and efforts have gone into implementing green business service, products and practices. Although some steps to going green can be expensive – solar panels on the roof are not cheap – there are some things that even small business can do to help them “go green.”

Save the Trees – Use Less Paper

Companies who produce paper consume a huge amount of energy to deliver this office supply staple. Harvesting and shipping trees, processing wood into paper and then packaging and delivering to stores and offices is a lot of work and uses a lot of resources. Although day to day office use does not have a huge effect on the environment, obtaining office paper definitely does. To help save a few trees, stop and think before printing out paper documents – only printing out what is necessary can definitely cut down on the business’s paper consumption and recycling unused paper can help reduce waste as well.

Save the Ozone Layer – Use Cyber Conferencing

Many business professionals are constantly on the go. Whether they are driving, flying or taking the train, almost any mode of transportation will use some kind of gas or fuel and the exhaust produced by these types of vehicles can be harmful to the Earth’s ozone layer. Although it is nearly impossible to cut out all travel from your business to help save the ozone layer, you can help to reduce it by using cyber conferencing to hold meetings. Cyber conferencing allows team members to meet virtually over the internet instead of having to travel to the office or to an offsite location to sit down and talk.

Create Less Waste – Stop Using Disposables

An average office worker uses over 400 disposable cups in just one year! And that is just one worker! Imagine the amount of trash and waste piling up in landfills just from office buildings alone. A great way to help reduce the amount of waste your business produces in by investing in reusable kitchen items such as cups, plates and silverware. Although it may have a higher cost upfront to stock the office’s kitchen with the items, it will help to saving the business money in the long run by not having to purchase plastic ware over and over and over again.

Going green has a huge impact on the environment but what small business owners may not realize is that it also a positive impact on the efficiency within the business and on the business’s budget. Printing fewer documents means buying less paper, stocking reusable kitchen items means purchasing less disposables and using cyber conferencing means less money wasted on travel. An added bonus of implementing these tips is that being environmentally friendly speaks volumes to consumers – they want to know that businesses are being responsible and will reward them for their efforts.

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*Photo Courtesy of Alosh Bennett via Creative Commons License

Make Your Home Office a More Efficient Work Space

Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Office Space

Whether your home office is located in a spare room, corner of the living room or the dining room table, there are some ways to help improve the functionality of any working environment. Work from home professionals are challenged with keeping their personal space separate from their working space and this can sometimes be a challenge that is not easily overcome. By streamlining the way your work space flows, it can make it much easier to become not only more organized by also more efficient.

Take an Analytical Look at Your Workspace

To begin streamlining your workspace, evaluate the area itself. Take a good look at what office space, equipment and resources you use on a day to day basis – this should include any table top or desk space and filing areas as well as pieces of office equipment such as computers, printers, and copiers. Are all of these items used every day? Are they crucial to accomplishing goals? By truly evaluating what space and equipment is being used, it is easier to see what needs to stay and what can go to free up more space. Having an organized working environment can help you relax and get more work done overall.

Going Digital Can Help Reduce Paper Clutter

Invoices, letters, and email printouts – all of these papers can add up to one huge mess, especially in a small working space. Consider cutting down on the paper and becoming a digital office. Converting archived paper documents to digital format will not happen overnight but it is worth the time and effort to free up much needed desk space. Bulky filing cabinets are a thing of the past – with the amount of hard drive and even external storage space available in today’s technology driven business marketplace, it is possible to keep all of your archived information in a single location that is no bigger than a mouse pad.

Organization is Key

There is nothing worse than having a client wait while you try and locate a document to share with them, but the hustle and bustle of modern business makes it completely understandable to not want to waste time organizing paperwork and digital documents. The reality is that business professionals waste more time looking for things that it takes to organize their work space. Take the time to create file folders, inboxes, and outboxes for specific documents and create organization folders within your email box – the time saved when looking for important information will be worth the time taken to organize it.

As many professionals have been told over the years, “work smart, not hard.” A great way to live up to this saying is streamlining your workspace, something that is especially important for work from home professionals. Drawing the line between working and personal space is truly the first step in becoming more efficient, but following these guidelines for organization can take your productivity to a new level. Professionals working from a home office will be amazed at what a little organization can do!

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*Photo Courtesy of JodiMichelle via Creative Commons License