The LuxMob Info Tags

1. To look “bigger.” Home-printed business cards with perforated edges or cards printed with standard designs available through Microsoft software or online business card vendors scream “small-time vendor” to your potential clients — and that is how they will want to compensate you.

2. To increase your chance of getting venture capital or selling a business. If you present a well-rounded business package, including marketing materials and graphics, your business will look more complete.

3. To attract more clients. Some clients look for a well-defined company, and “look and feel” may be one of their criteria in making a purchasing decision.

4. To brand yourself. If you are a consultant, you need a logo in order to build an image and a brand that is bigger than your individual identity.

5. To convey that you are established. A logo and professionally-printed materials show that you are committed to both your business and your clients.

6. To give clients a sense of stability. You may not have been in business “since 1968,” but if you have invested in an identity, you are much less likely to fold in the eyes of your customers. It goes a long way toward building that all-important “trust.”

7. To be more memorable. Forty percent of people better remember what they see than what they hear or read. So having graphics associated with your business and having consistent graphics on your business materials make you more likely to come to the forefront of potential clients’ minds when they have a need for your goods or services.

8. To explain your company name. If your company name contains a little-known word or an acronym, the logo can give visual clues to its meaning.

9. To endear your company name to your clients. A difficult-to-pronounce or hard-to-remember company name may make it challenging for your clients to hire you. When potential clients have the need for your services, they might not recall who you are. But if you reinforce the name with interesting, compelling graphics, they are more likely to remember you, pick up the phone, and hire you.

10. To explain an unusual line of business. If your business is nontraditional or in a hard-to-explain industry, a logo can help to explain exactly what it is that you do.

11. To show what practices differentiate you from your competition. A well-designed logo can have many subtle meanings and can begin to tell the story of how you do business, including the special practices that make you stand apart from the competition.

12. To stand out in your field. A well-designed logo and an identity system can put you far above the competition, especially if they are paired with a strong marketing program.

13. To comply with expectations. In some industries, a logo is just expected. In the creative services industry especially, having a logo is an industry standard.

14. To show your commitment and for the sense of personal pride it will add to your practice. In other words, do it for yourself.

These benefits will boost your business and your confidence, so start thinking about developing a logo and identity as soon as possible.

Annette T Thomas is a freelance business writer and professional marketer. Annette has written several business articles for a number of magazines. She has currently launched her e commerce store, giftboxedbaskets.com. Giftboxedbaskets.com offers a wide assortment of handmade gift baskets, coporate gifts, holiday gift baskets, home decor, and more. You may visit at:http://www.giftboxedbaskets.com.

Nokia, as everybody knows, is currently 1 of the earth’s greatest makers of handsets and this is when compared to other dominant competitors for example, Samsung & Motorola (amid others). Nokia construct telephones for each dominant market sector and back in ‘07 Nokia was voted the most valuable global brand. Their goods fall into four type of divisions - telephones, multimedia, networks & enterprise solutions.

The cell phone revolution headed by Nokia would seem to be irrepressible. The stocky bricks sold in the nineties for example, the Nokia 2110 that was almost 236 grams have currently been swapped with light-weight, and slim sets for instance, the Nokia 6282 that comes in at 115 grams or the Nokia 7380 that weighs a mere 80 grams. All the phones have the most current in communications electronics along with a good fashion sense.

Deciding on a handset was a painless job still, considering the products possible to every one of us today, it becomes slightly harder. Potential buyers might often buy their mobiles with the thought of various accessories, - could it be a statement of fashion an object which makes someone look groovy - or might it be only for the advantages that the mobile devices presently offer, for example, e-mail & WAP, etc.

Additional technologies are also consolidating in Nokia telephones to allow the customer the possibility to communicate with more than simply speech. Nokia mobile devices which include cameras are also becoming familiar as is the facility to produce videos and transmit them to friends and associates through multimedia messaging. You can furthermore see full color graphics on every one of their cell phones and well over 1/2 are available with the facility to show WAP info (pages improved just for the smaller displays on a mobile devices). Also obtainable is the mobile devices which are built with radios & MP3 facilities only for listening to your favourite music. The cost of their sets range from nothing at all up to a few hundred pounds, it primarily depends about what someone require.

Nokia, as we mentioned, is still the planet’s #1 fabricator of handsets, despite some who reckon that Nokia’s top rank might be under pressure in particular by Sony Erickson. Even so, Nokia now have the advantage of decades of experience in mobile phone fabrication & has brilliant loyalty from its usual consumers allied with with their reputation just for reliability & user friendliness.

As emerging technologies become even more vital in today’s mobile phones, the space between Nokia and all its competitors will become extra obvious. Finding a phone has never been easier. Chek out Nokia’s site for cheap mobile phones.

Koozies (also known as can coolers) are great to have on a picnic, or when you’re just sitting outside on a hot day. They keep your drinks colder for much longer. Koozies are a great invention, but have you ever stopped and thought about how they work? The simplicity of their design and its effectiveness is ingenious because it makes use of simple thermodynamic principals.

We all know that when you put very cold water in a room, and let it sit, it will gradually come to room temperature. The same effect is found when you place something very hot in a room (it will gradually cool off to room temperature). The reasons behind this lead us to understand how koozies work. It all has to do with the movement of atoms.

When something is hot, it is because the atoms are moving very fast inside of it. If something is very cold, the atoms are moving very slowly. In fact, when the temperature is at absolute zero, then there is no motion of atoms at all. When things are heated up, energy is being transferred from the source, to the object. This process is called conduction. This can be shown if you were to heat up a frying pan. Notice that at first the frying pan is at room temperature. Once the heat is turned on, it takes a bit, but the frying pan begins to cook your food. The entire frying pan will eventually become extremely hot. This is because of all the atoms moving very rapidly, and are becoming energized by smashing into one another. Once the heat is turned off, the frying pan is still very hot and takes a while to cool down.

So, how to koozies work then? The answer is very simple; they slow down the natural conduction by being a barrier between atoms. Foam works as a great barrier. Therefore, koozies are made of foam (or foam like substances) and encase the most of the outer surface area of a glass or can of cold liquid. This insulation works by utilizing two principals. First, the foam has plastic in it. This plastic is not a very good heat conductor. This means that the atoms don’t accept energy from faster moving atoms as easily. The second principal is that the foam has room for air. This air that is trapped in the foam is an even worse heat conductor than the plastic. Combining these two effects, a koozie is an awful heat conductor, which means that whatever is inside it can hold its low temperature for a longer time.

John Hanksworth recommends QualityLogoProducts.com for custom koozies.

For the great adaptive businessman out there, the handiness to get online and utilise your gadgets back at the office can be a great help. Now available in a large amount of Nokia phones for sale now are Business Phones. These intelligent pieces of high-technology enable you to receive your data through internet browsers and email any of your clients and partners. Indeed, your handset acts in a similar way as a laptop does, except it’s smaller than half of the volume. You can purchase business phones from Nokia on their UK site.

Nokia, as they say, is all about connecting people. They also believe that mobility makes firms healthier. Mobility gives people the ability to co-operate and carry out business outside of the customary work places and times. Nokia provides an expansive number of business handsets. All of the devices is aimed at different types of users.

Drawing on their business range Nokia provide four particular makes of business hand set. These are communicators, smart phones, messaging sets and mobile telephones. Nokia business hand sets have solutions like Nokia Intellisync Wireless Email. Nokia carried out some research and it has been uncovered that folk using wireless email achieved an average extra fifty five mins. of work a day. This is predicted to stretch to 80 mins extra per day by the very end of 07. Yet another advantage of utilising their Business handsets is that they may save some money for the firm or even for you yourself as you will not depend upon two distinct devices - people can have all they need in a single set.

Nokia sets are superb for companies and for pros. All the sets have great designs, are all extremely compatible and also simple to use, once you’ve used them for a while. The email possibilities are marvellous with support from Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Microsoft Office 97, 2000, 2003 and XP and also it’s compatible with the zip manager and Adobe Reader. Users can send & receive emails along with conversing on the sets plus they may get the current calendar and the contact details. The e mail facilities are also able to work in the off-line mode which means users can read and write e-mails while the network is unavailable.

Even though the business sets supplied by Nokia aren’t all exceptionally small scale, what needs to be remembered is they are good dimensions considering what they’re capable of. Most of them come with a full keyboard and backlight, a large landscape screen along with an easy one touch feature which accesses your email function.

A business phone will not be for everyone but for the help it offers users who will make full use of all the facilities, its assuredly going to make their life much more simple.

Everything you do in life – from the way you dress to the car you buy, from the friends you see to the club you belong, from the notes you write to the way you speak — either builds or diminishes your personal brand. Below are ten suggestions for building a stronger personal brand.

One: Become an expert source. Deliver a speech, write a bylined article, and become an expert source for reporters. Make sure you have a current photo, bio, resume, and speaker introduction.

Two: Become a great communicator. Research shows communications skill is the top determinant for upward social and professional mobility. Join Toastmasters or hire a communications coach to ensure that your written and verbal skills are at their best.

Three: Draft a marketing plan for yourself annually, and review it quarterly. Include specific goals, strategies, action steps, and a timetable.

Four: Develop an ‘elevator speech.” Within the time that it takes an elevator to travel one floor – about 60-seconds – be able to deliver a succinct description of what you do, how you do it differently, and the benefit it provides.

Five: Build your Rolodex. Make new business contacts and stay in touch with them. Most people with powerful brands have powerful friends.

Six: Realize that your boss can be your most powerful ally — or enemy — in building your brand. Be loyal and never speak ill of him or her – to anyone. We should make our bosses look good, and help them build their own brands.

Seven: Dress for the job you want, not the job you have. Balance your individual style with clothing that will appeal to those you are trying to impress.

Eight: Become a class act. Learn good business and social etiquette. Buy elegant personal stationery and send hand-written notes. Know how to order a good bottle of wine in a fine restaurant and drink it sparingly during dinner. (Remember, alcohol and branding seldom mix.)

Nine: Select “significant” significant others. Who you date or who you marry affects your brand. John Hancock CEO David F. D’Alessandro in his book Career Warfare: 10 Rules for Building a Successful Personal Brand and Fighting to Keep It, suggests that single people not take their dates to company events. If they do, they will be judged by the outcome of every romance.

Ten: Give something back. Giving your time, talent, and money to charitable causes is a brand-builder especially when it complements your brand strategy. Find a cause you are passionate about. When I was in public relations, I wanted to be known for my creativity. By limiting my community involvement to arts organizations I was able to reinforce my personal brand. Not only did my involvement in the arts benefit my career, I enjoyed the work. I still do.

Your personal brand is one of your greatest business assets. Nurture your brand and you will nurture your career.

“The Career Engineer,” Randy Siegel, helps clients electrify their careers and transform their lives by becoming high voltage communicators™. Power up and subscribe to “Stand in Your Power!” his complimentary monthly eNewsletter at http://www.powerhousecommunications.com.

Microsoft… IBM… Wal-Mart… Nike… Adidas… Time Magazine

Six of the largest public companies in the world…leaders of their respective industries… innovators and creators of products, services, and information…

You know who they are. You study their growth, their balance sheets, their risks, their failures. You even go out and buy their respective entrepreneur’s biographies hoping to discover that one secret strategy that put his or her company over the top.

Well I’m here to tell you that there’s one thing all of these companies have in common that is so blatantly obvious it’s often overlooked.

I’ll make a bet with you. Even if you were the finest linguist in the world I’m challenging that you couldn’t write more than a few sentences to describe the logo of each of the companies I listed above. I mean how much can you write about a logo that’s one color, one symbol, without shadows, embossing or flashy graphics?

I’m often amazed when I’m contacted by a potential client who is starting a business and asks me to design a logo for them that is flashy, multi-colored, layered, spinning, exploding… “that stands out.” I mean doesn’t anybody conduct basic research anymore? You think Bill Gates called in a graphic design team and said, “Hey guys I’m thinking Microsoft should have a logo that spins and flashes with 15 colors that shows how bold and crazy we are…” Do you really think Jack Welch called for a multi-colored General Electric logo?

The Face of Your Company

What will be the face of your company? When you grow it won’t be the owner, the employees, or even the product or service you provide. It will be the logo. So how do you want to project your company to the world? In the case of each business above the chosen logo is one that is bold, clean, and simple.
What that achieves is fairly straightforward, but as I mentioned, is often overlooked. A clean and bold logo projects stability and reliability, the two keys to success for any business. Time Magazine Inc. is recognized as a leader in the journalism industry, an industry that relies on credible information and trustworthy reporting. The strong and crisp logo emits such a sentiment.

The same goes for computers. IBM Thinkpad laptops have long been regarded as some of the most reliable and durable portable computers. The all-capital-letter IBM gives off a sense of strength and persistence.

The bottom line is that your logo, above all else, has to reflect a sense of strength, stability, and trustworthiness. If it’s just a pretty graphic it’s useless. So when you’re in search of a graphic designer for the perfect logo to represent your soon to be “world-conquering corporation” make sure to remember who came before you. I say if it’s good enough for Microsoft, Nike, and Time Magazine… it’s probably good enough for you.

Derek Falvey is the owner of Acuvar Web Design and Creative Development http://www.acuvar.com . He has helped numerous small businesses from lawyers to home builders and even a small farm create internet business strategies that guarantee success. Specializing in graphic design, web site development and creative e-marketing strategies.

Your reputation, strengthened or negated by word-of-mouth, is one of the most difficult things to build and one of the easiest to destroy. You must be committed to developing and protecting your good name at all costs… it is one of your most precious assets.

How do you develop and preserve an exemplary reputation? First, you must believe that honesty, credibility and consistency are right… both personally and professionally.

Second, you must consistently deliver what you promise… no exceptions.

And finally, you must build and maintain positive relationships, and treat everyone with kindness and respect, regardless of the situation.

Here’s a personal example. When I help found my own small, competitive long-distance company I developed a policy on treating customers with specific guidelines and scripts for dealing with difficult ones. Sometimes our service consultants were in the unenviable position of having to terminate a customer’s service for nonpayment. As you might expect, this often resulted in a frustrated, angry or regretful call into our service center.

We could have used the opportunity to chastised and pressure these folks… many companies do. However, no matter what the outcome of the call, we made sure that every person was treated with kindness and respect… just as you would treat a friend or family member. Our representatives made every attempt to help these customers… often taking great leaps of faith. And the customers appreciated it! Why? Because it’s so rarely done these days! In other words, we continued to serve when others would not have.

This one policy resulted in more positive testimonials than our other, more formalized, programs. You’d be amazed at how many of these folks ended up becoming some of our best, and most loyal, customers.

I recently read Malcolm Gladwell’s masterful book, “Blink”, where he talks about a recent research study where patients who sued physicians for malpractice, and those that chose not to, responded. The purpose of the research was to uncover why some people decided to sue a doctor over a “technical” error and others, whose physicians had committed identical errors, did not. What did they find out? Not surprisingly, the folks who did not sue indicated that they chose not to because they “liked” their doctor! Overwhelmingly, they said that he/she treated them with kindness, respect and really listened to their problems and tried to find solutions. They essentially “forgave” the technical error because they felt that their doctor really cared.

This was not so for the other group… A full 80% of the patients who did sue cited poor “bedside manner” as a major factor in their decision. Bottom line: Everybody wants to feel appreciated and respected, regardless of the circumstances!

During my years as an executive of my own company, I felt tense before answering strangers’ fated question, “So, Mary, what do you do for a living?” I was braced for anything from a blank stare to a tirade of complaints. Yet, not one of my current, or former, customers ever complained about how they were treated by any employee of the company… even though they may have had other concerns (for example billing errors, service outages). I was also grateful to learn that many ‘defectors’ eagerly recommended our company to others.

As a person far wiser than me said, “A reputation once broken may possibly be repaired, but the world will always keep their eyes on the spot where the crack was.” (Joseph Hall) So, it’s wise to remember that a stellar reputation isn’t gained only when things go right but when they go wrong as well.

And as a matter of fact, the way you treat others may actually “save you” if things really begin to unravel… because you’re going to meet the same people on the way down as you did on the way up!

Copyright 2005 Mary Eule

Mary Eule specializes in helping small and medium-sized businesses get and keep profitable customers. Formerly a Fortune 500 marketing executive; founder of two successful small businesses and award-winning speaker, Ms. Eule is President of Strategic Marketing Advisors, LLC. and co-author of a new book, ” Mandatory Marketing: Small Business Edition”. She holds a master degree in marketing from Johns Hopkins University. Log onto http://www.StrategicMarketingAdvisors.com for free articles, newsletter and helpful tools, tips and templates.

In the Music Biz, marketing makes the difference between artist and musicians succeeding or failing.

There are a few marketing key terms that you should know to be able to market your music successfully.
This article deals with the first and most important marketing technique - branding.

Branding involves creating symbols that potential fans or “target’s” will associate with you or your product.
Those symbols when combined and attributed to your brand are then known as your brands identity.

Branding is reflected in everything you do or say as an artist or musician.

The pictures you take, Your autograph signatures,
your name, logo, interviews, cover art and anything audible or visual should all be taken into consideration when
developing your brand identity.

If your music brand is still young (under five years), be careful of everything you do or say.

Remember the Dixie Chicks? The Dixie Chicks were on top of the world until the day Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Mains made disparaging remarks about George W. Bush while overseas. With those remarks about George W. Bush, the Dixie Chicks branded themselves as “unpatriotic”. Hundreds of radio stations immediately yanked the Dixie Chicks music off the air.
Be warned, watch what you do or say very carefully.

Back in the day, artists had publicists who would coach them as to what to say or do. Of course this often made the artist’s
feel like puppets, but this practice usually kept the artists brand integrity intact. If you are a artist or musician be
calculated about every thing you say or do. If someone hits you with a question you don’t want to answer, say something like
“no comment” or “I’m all about music right now”.

Another thing to consider is your target market. Find no more than two markets or genre’s to market to. I’ve worked with
aspiring artist who say “I can sing all kinds of music”. Being a versatile singer or performer is a great thing, but not when building your brand identity. The majority of humans need to be able to categorize things in their minds in order to find a spot for them in our minds. Picture the human brain as a fleshy computer. It has many folders with many many files. If your target can’t file your product into one or two categories (genres)instantly, you will be deleted.

It’s best to pick one or two genres -max, to market to.
E.g. jazz and blues, hip hop and r&b, folk and country etc.

Build your own brand Identity - don’t let the public do it for you.

Recently, Arctic Monkeys sold over 300,000 using only
the internet to market their music. Arctic Monkeys came out of nowhere with their CD “Whatever They Say I Am, That’s What
I’m Not”. Arctic Monkeys got lots of free press but not the kind they would have liked. News articles and radio features about Arctic Monkeys all said the same thing -”we don’t know who they are or what they stand for”. Well that’s no way to build a brand.

With all of the free press Arctic Monkeys have received you’d expect them to be on every American teens lip’s. Not so.
Most American Teens don’t even know Arctic Monkeys exist. Arctic Monkeys allowed the press limited access to their brand and the press did what they do best when the details are missing - they fill in the blanks with speculation.

If you are a young brand don’t let this happen to you. Tell people what to think and say about you through press releases, and brand building activities.

Let your brand account grow before you take deposits out of it.

With branding, consistency is builds equity. Once you have built your brand identity and start to get some good attention,
leave it alone and let it create value for you. Consider your branding efforts as putting money into an interest generating
account like a 401K. The more you put into the same account the more interest you’ll get. The more interest you get the more money you’ll get. Get it?

Artists and musicians who change their brand identity often don’t have much success establishing a solid brand identity
and have a much more difficult time getting people to remember who they are or why they should buy that brand.

What you are shooting for is what’s known as brand presence. To have brand presence, you’ll need to pick a target market, you’ll
need to build the the associative symbols that represent your brand, you’ll need to handle your young brand with care, you’ll need to limit where and how you market your brand, you’ll have to tell people what your brand symbolizes, you’ll have to invest in your brand and let it grow for you without changing it.

As you follow the steps above you’ll see your brand grow and give you a return on your investment.

Jerome Ford is a 20 year radio and records marketing expert and Vice President of Succeed In the Music Biz. Jerome has worked directly with many major and indie label stars. Feel free to contact Jerome at Jerome.ford@simbiz.info.

How do you establish an effective brand? Branding–creating a distinctive corporate identity for your business–is critical to your success as an entrepreneur. You can, and must, use the process of setting up and managing your business entities to establish your own distinctive brand.

The world’s greatest companies have mastered this art of branding. You don’t need even need to to see the name of the company to recognize the Mercedes or MacDonald’s logo, so effectively have these companies imprinted their identity into the minds of the consumer.

But branding is not just about a logo. It’s also about making sure that you have a consistent identity, one that is reflected in your website, your stationery–all communications with the public. Individual entrepreneurs often use a haircut, accessories, even style of dress-as the “Man in Black” Johnny Cash did–to imprint their identity into the minds of the public. Even a small business owner doing business on eBay will profit from having a consistent, memorable image as an established, reliable firm associated with expertise in its niche.

You can use the process of structuring your business (see our newsletter) to start building a strong brand. Whether you are establishing an LLC or a corporation or other entity, you will want to follow a number of steps to make sure that your structures will build a strong foundation for your brand.

I recommend that you follow the sequence below:

1. Make a list of several possible names for your company that reflect your area of expertise and your USP–”Unique Selling Proposition”. Number them 1 to 5 or even 10 in order of priority.

2. Check with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm (or the Intellectual Property Office in the country where you live if you live outside the United States) to make sure that you have not selected a name, one you might soon be using in a potential trademark, that is already taken. Running a search is an easy matter on the internet. If you find that the name or mark is already taken by someone engaged in a line of business close to your own, make a note of it and move on to check the next name on your list.

3. Conduct a similar search on the web site of your state’s or province’s authority for establishing corporations–in most cases, the Secretary of State. If you are considering setting up a Nevada corporation or LLC, be sure to do the same both in Nevada (https://esos.state.nv.us/SOSServices/AnonymousAccess/CorpSearch/CorpSearch.aspx) and in your home state or province. You can find the appropriate authority in your state easily by doing a search on Google.

Make sure that you check both the LLC and the Corporation databases. There could be a corporation with a very similar name to the one you want to use for your LLC that your sate authorities might not catch if the corporation and LLC divisions are separate. Too close a similarity with the name of an entity of a different type will cripple your efforts to establish a distinctive brand and could cost you in the long term. Years ago the Body Shop did not bother to do this checking outside of California, and ended up being forced to change their name when challenged by a more successful business started earlier with a similar name years later.

4. Next, conduct a search on the fictious names (or DBA “doing business as”) registry of your county or other local jurisdiction. Once your make a decision on a name for your entity, if you are using anything other than your own name or a name that clearly indicates exactly what you are doing (something other than Mary Jones Plumbing, for example) or if you add something like “Associates” to your name, you will need to file a fictitious name statement with the County Clerk. There is usually a nominal fee associated with doing this, but Don’t think of this as an annoyance. It is actually an effective way establish your exclusive claim to the use of your DBA.

By the way, you’ll also need to check with your municipal government to see if you need to register to do business in their jurisdiction. This will no doubt cost something, but it is an essential part of doing business. I prefer to think of it as yet another opportunity to brand myself in the mind of the public.

5. Check with a web domain registrar (such as LuckyRegister.com) to see if your preferred name or names are available. If your first choice is not available as a .com or .net or other common domain type, you now have the option of setting up a .ws (for web site) domain. You can do that at: http://www.azurpacific.ws. Or, you can choose a variant like xxxxxonline.com or xxxxxxlive.com. Go ahead and purchase the domain names that correspond to your preferred business name. Even if you don’t use it, domain names are valuable virtual real estate these days–you might be approached to sell one of the names you’ve purchased later and make a tidy profit!

6. Select your preferred name and reserve it with your state authority. Sometimes the entity formation process can take longer than expected, and you want to be sure that the name is reserved exclusively for you long enough for your structure to be put in place. The reservation is good for a certain period of months or days.

7. Be sure to register your preferred entity name as a DBA or fictitious name if required by your regional authority.

Once your entity is in place, you’re ready to brand yourself by developing a memorable graphic logo, ordering your professional stationary, and getting your web site developed around your new corporate identity.

There is, of course, much more you can do to build your brand. Kim Castle’s free BrandU newsletter is an excellent resource that I highly recommend. You can sign up for it free at our website.

Copyright 2006 Azur Pacific Associates

Germaine A. Hoston, Ph.D. is President and Treasurer of Azur Pacific Associates, a consulting and translation firm and distributor of the Secret Millionaire Asset Security System and Eventis wealth-building courses. Get a free gift when you sign up for her free wealth structuring eNewsletter for entrepreneurs at: http://www.wealthstrategies202.com

Americans have always liked their coffee hot. But then Starbucks
made hot coffee desirable, in demand, and extraordinarily
profitable. And then Starbucks made coffee “cool” with its
super-popular iced Frappucino drink — just as trendy,
fashionable, and universally appealing.

Starbucks is no doubt one of the greatest marketing stories of
recent history. How this company turned an unassuming beverage
into an icon of sophistication and taste is no mystery, however.
It’s all about a marketing tenet called positioning.

The coffee company started out in Seattle’s Pike Place market in
1971 as a single gourmet coffee shop, and by 1995, the chain’s
earnings were $26.1 million. Marketing experts agree that
Starbucks’ skyrocket to fortune centers on its aesthetic sense.
In other words, the public’s perception of Starbucks has to do
with how it appreciates this company’s style. Sure, Starbucks
filled a need and created unique product brands, but what
attracts coffee drinkers again and again is the experience of
the Starbucks environment and its products. Smooth,
sophisticated, artistic: These are seductive qualities even for
a business based on a little brown bean.

The Starbucks story illustrates at least two powerful marketing
principles. Both help us to better understand effective
positioning, or the process of finding a “place” for ourselves
in people’s minds:

1. People buy for their own reasons, not anyone
   else’s.

2. The stronger position is found in the experience, outcome,
   or benefit you provide as opposed to the methods you use for
   producing those outcomes.

Starbucks shows us that it’s not about packaging — it’s about
positioning. The environment of Starbucks creates an experience
that invites us to come study for exams, hang out and
philosophize with friends, or get the day started with a warm
cup of java and the morning news. Starbucks is an invitation to
linger, not just get your coffee and go.

When you are assessing your own position and considering how you
might improve your image and thus your market share, remember
that there are essentially four winning positions: better,
different, faster, or cheaper. You can certainly position
yourself as one of these, perhaps even two; capturing a position
as three of them is tough and probably not desirable, and
cornering all four is just about impossible.

Not everyone is up to the task of creating another Starbucks.
It’s tempting, with price wars so rampant, to believe that a
perception of being cheapest is easiest to establish. Yet in
truth this is the most difficult because of fixed costs. It’s
like doing the limbo: you can go only so low, and then you’re
overextended or flat on your back. Definitely not the easiest
position to be in.

How about being better instead? Contrary to popular belief, this
is perhaps the easiest position to take, since making an
improvement or simply creating the impression of greater quality
or ability has no constraints. One tip: when you capture the
different category, you may get the better category as a
by-product.

Starbucks capitalized on this technique, as did Dennis Rodman,
the oddball of basketball. He came up with a way to take two
positions in fans’ eyes: both different and better. Okay, maybe
he wasn’t actually better than his teammate Michael Jordan, who
was unbeatable, but certainly he was perceived for a time as
better (cooler, trendier) among those who were captivated by his
style. His fashion and fascinating antics made him so unique that
he became unforgettable. And because he was also an excellent
ball handler, he became famous and highly regarded in his
sport.

BMW has also taken the better-different approach. Until fairly
recently, Mercedes-Benz had the better luxury car market sewn
up, so BMW — a competitor with a parity product — simply
repositioned itself. Its tag, “the ultimate driving machine,”
appeals to a younger crowd and gives them luxury with power and
handling. This is “hip luxury,” which is different from the
Mercedes position, which could be summed up as “elegant luxury.”
And voilà: BMW became as hot and desirable as a cappucino on a
wintry morning.

BMW marketers had both a strong sense of the position they
wanted to hold and precisely defined their premium clients, the
créme de la créme within their target market. You can do this,
too. Once you’ve figured out what position you can successfully
gain in your business, ask yourself the following.

• Who is my premium client? Who would be the most enjoyable
  and rewarding to serve?
• What are this client’s unique desires, needs, and
  challenges? How can I best serve this client?
• What do I (or can I) provide in a unique way to help my
  clients achieve their business outcomes?
• How can I position myself as an expert in this market?

With this information, you can tailor your marketing efforts –
everything you say to people, any support materials you use,
even the way you dress and act — directly to this audience to
help establish your position. This is the first step to “owning
your market.”

Positioning is like popularity: You have to be seen in the right
places and with the right people. This is more than social
climbing: You learn more about your clients and they learn more
about you when you frequent the same places, attend the same
functions, join the same associations, be published in their
periodicals, and develop products and services specifically for
them.

Positioning is as much about who you are not as it is about who
you are. Starbucks is not a cheaper and faster cuppa joe; it is
an upscale, gourmet coffee experience. BMW is no old-style
luxury; it is stylish performance. Dennis Rodman is no gentleman
forward; he is the outrageous, extreme athlete who is a
recognized celebrity even for people who don’t know basketball
from billiards.

Do you want to win big? If so, have the courage to answer these
questions clearly and define your own game: Who are you? Who are
you not? Who are your clients? These are the essential decisions
you must make if you want to not only understand but own your
market.

James Arthur Ray of James Ray International is an expert in
teaching individuals how to achieve Harmonic Wealth™ in
all areas of their life by focusing on what they want, opposed
to what they don’t want. He has been speaking to individuals as
well as Fortune 500 companies for over 20 years and is the
author of four books and an inventor of numerous learning
systems. His studies of highly successful people prove that they
continually achieve results by taking control of their thoughts
and actions to create and shape their own reality.

The Power to Win seminar (http://www.ThePowerToWin.com)
will explain in detail how success is state of mind and how the
principles of quantum physics (as seen in the movie What the
Bleep) can be applied to proven success-building techniques.
James will also cover why people who are successful in one
area of their life tend to be successful in all areas. For more information,
visit http://www.ThePowerToWin.com.