by workshedAdmin | Feb 24, 2008 | Workshed News
Do I have your attention? Good.
The subject of this post is not to insult your marketing, of course, but to report on a recent event a couple of us here at the Workshed HQ had the opportunity to attend. Our good friend, Joe Graves, of Joseph Graves Capital Management invited us over to his place to hear Mark Stevens, author of Your Marketing Sucks
, Your Management Sucks and God is a Salesman, speak to a small crowd of local business folks right here in little old Camas.
I’m ashamed to admit that I hadn’t read Mr. Stevens’ works prior to attending this little workshop, and I had this thought in the back of my head that went something like, “I do this stuff for a living… why would I want to listen to someone tell me how to do my job?”
Alas, I don’t know everything and I have learned over time that I can gain insight and wisdom from hearing other people’s perspectives, no matter who is speaking. Mark did not disappoint. I found everything he said to be somewhat vindicating of how we approach working with our clients, how we run our business and the culture we try to instill in our business. Of course, like any other business, we still have room for improvement and lots of work to do inroads of making things as great as they can possibly be. But it is often hard to know that all of our decisions are the right ones until we’ve lived with them for awhile. I can say that I will now be acquiring copies of his books for immediate consumption.
Most of Stevens’ beliefs center around throwing conventional wisdom out the door, breaking the rules and building strong relationships with your colleagues, employees and clients. He spoke about everything from marketing, to attracting and retaining clients, to treating employees and clients like family and even how he selects employees to work for his own company. I recommend checking out his books to any business out there, as they will provide a new perspective on how to grow and manage your business better.
While Stevens has been criticized for not having any truly new ideas, I do think that one must take his audience into consideration. He’s not speaking to marketers, agencies and strategists—he’s trying to educate the small business owners so they know how to communicate with and select the companies that will ultimately help them make their marketing not suck.
Thanks to Joe Graves for setting this up and inviting us over — it was definitely a worthwhile use of time!
![First Friday for March: Lara Blair]()
by workshedAdmin | Feb 24, 2008 | Events
We’re back for Downtown Camas First Fridays in March, and we’re going all out! This time, we’re featuring local photographer, Lara Blair. Most of you may know Lara as a talented portrait photographer, but we’ve managed to squeeze some rare landscape photos out of her, which you can view in our lobby on Friday, March 7! Lara will be showing her exhibit “Hudson Valley Landscapes,” which features images of Barns and scenic landscapes and the fall in Warwick, New York. Lara will be on-hand to answer questions, and we will be featuring live music by James Manuele of the Portland Guitar Duo. Swing by, say hi and enjoy the sights and sounds! The opening will run from 5 – 8 p.m. on Friday, March 7th. We’re located at 415 NE Cedar St. Suite B (downstairs), Camas, WA.
by workshedAdmin | Jan 19, 2008 | Articles, Workshed News
The term branding is one that is loaded with questions, preconceptions and common misunderstandings. In fact, one of the frequent questions we get is, “What is branding?” This is almost always followed up with, “And, why do I need it?”
Think of branding as a conglomeration of marketing strategy, corporate identity design and good, old-fashioned market research. The purpose of branding is to help your business figure out who it is; to define a place in its market and a personality that exemplifies it. This personality takes the form of your company’s logo, colors, typefaces, messaging, copy writing style, the appearance of your offices or stores, how your staff interacts with its customers and even the physical personification of the company itself.
In fact, you probably already know what the end results of branding are. Think Starbuck’s, McDonalds, Apple, BMW, Google, Yahoo! and many other large corporations whose names invoke instant recognition and feelings.
Your brand is simply who you are, inside and out. And the best part? You don’t have to be a large corporation to benefit from great branding.
If you walk into a Starbuck’s anywhere in the world, chances are, you know what kind of experience you are going to get. Not just in terms of customer service or coffee taste, but also in terms of the store’s decor, design, layout, merchandising and general atmosphere.
Branding is focusing your efforts, fine-tuning your message and bringing it to life in all aspects of everything you do. There’s no reason a small business can’t have the same level of recognition and consistency. And more importantly, there’s no reason a small business shouldn’t.
Great, so now you are still wondering about that second question: why do you need it?
It’s no secret that being in business is no picnic. You are trying to build a product, service or selection that will keep your customers coming back—and convert potential customers to new customers. You want customer loyalty. It can be a challenge when your competition is cutting prices or they always seem to be one step ahead of you. How do you stand out and differentiate yourself from them?
That’s where the branding process comes in. During the process and research that drive it, information is gathered that helps you pinpoint what your strengths and weaknesses are, how you differ from your competition, how you perceive yourself, and how your business is perceived by your customers and employees. Additionally, your target market is defined and the best ways to reach that market are also determined. It is from this information that a brand personality is developed.
What are its traits? What does it look like? What does it sound like? Is it your best friend who always has the right thing to say at the right time? Or is it a long-time trusted adviser who offers sage financial advice? Does it take care of your needs quickly and efficiently? Or does it take time to do things slowly and methodically? Maybe it’s a wise-cracking tour guide or a silly character.
Once the branding is established, you should be able to walk away from the process with a brand style guide. This is essentially a document that tells you, and your graphic designers, sign makers, interior designers, copy writers, web developers and advertising agency how to represent your brand in all media channels.
The end goal is to create a high level of consistency, credibility and distinction in everything your business does. People will know what to expect when they set foot in your door for the first time and they will be impressed by the professionalism of your organization. Our society is a very image conscious one, especially as younger generations become young adult consumers. You have only a few seconds to make an impression on a potential customer. Simply put, businesses who have a clear, focused and consistent brand and image will gain an advantage in the marketplace.
If your company needs help branding or would like more information on this topic, don’t hesitate to contact us for a consultation.
![First Friday for March: Lara Blair]()
by workshedAdmin | Jan 19, 2008 | Project Reports, Workshed News
You may have caught Oregon Art Beat on OPB last week, for which we produced a feature on local Flamenco guitarist, Toshi Onizuka. This video was produced and edited in-house by our very own Lisa Fenderson. In addition, the voiceover work of KC Cowan was recorded in our own recording studio. Check out the segment online.
Click on the images to view them at full size:
by workshedAdmin | Jan 7, 2008 | Workshed News
We had a little server issue with our blog dropping offline over the weekend. Suffice to say, sometimes computer hardware doesn’t behave as requested. The blog is now running on a different server for your reading enjoyment (we had it running on a new server that was still in testing phases). More articles to follow soon!
