Do people recognize your website and print materials as belonging to you? It will help your market visibility a great deal if anyone can tell the material and the website are yours because of the theme, the palette, the layout and any number of subtle identifiers. Your success in the marketplace depends a great deal on your visibility and your memorability. Don’t send a mixed message by a lack of consistency. A mixed message may result in a perceived lack of your professional image and ultimately, your professionalism.
Create a consistent look and feel as a template for all your materials. Consistency is an important aspect of your brand. If people recognize your business name, tagline, website header, blog style, branded email, and other published materials as all belonging to you without having to be told, you have effectively branded your image in the minds of the business community. Within the overall look, of course, you will want to have some variety. Perhaps you will have a distinctly seasonal look that enhances your primary image. Perhaps you will have a distinctly branded newsletter that people have no doubt is yours because of the branded images and content. Creating such a consistent, congruent look will take some planning on your part. Consider color, background texture, photography and/or digital imagery, graphic style, font style, bolding of text and many other features. If you include a photo of yourself, be aware of your wardrobe choice to be sure it is in keeping with the overall image you are trying to project. Two of the websites I would recommend you look at to see the consistency of color palette and so forth are http://www.onlinemarketingwithdotty.com and http://www.marketingtraditionalbusinesses.com . Notice how these two sites complement each other. They both belong to Dotty Scott who owns a marketing and website building business. Dotty even has a laptop skin and a cell phone skin that are congruent with her overall colors and professional image. She obtained those through a photographer whose website is http://www.joditripp.com. Jodi has done something brilliant by having her photo galleries on a scroll timer, so each time you visit her website you are likely to see new images.
This idea is an aspect of the consistent feel I mentioned earlier. It is more subtle than the look, but is equally important as part of your branding process. The feel is what makes someone recognize that you are someone who is professional, who has integrity, and who can be trusted. Remember, people do business with those they know, like, and trust. People who view your materials and don’t know you personally can come away with a sense that you are someone they would like and who they would trust, even before they know you. Guard this idea. Be careful about any images or photos that are posted of you on any of the social media sites. Anything inappropriate can damage the consistency of the look and feel you want. Your image, what the world sees about you and what they ultimately think about you is the subject of another post.
