The Two Phases of Branding!!!

~ alileo1979 ~ Leave a comment

Inside Branding

When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through.” Steve Jobs

I absolutely love this quote it describes exactly what I want my brand and products to represent. Although things take time and lot’s of patience, it’s still fun and enjoyable since I am doing what I love. Just recently, while searching for a friend in Linkedin, I found an article from Inge Geerdens a CEO of CVWarehouse.com and mother of three. In her article she uses the words, “If You Love Your Job, It Doesn’t Feel Like Working”. This words immediately captured my attention, I wanted to read more. I quickly noticed that I felt exactly the same way, every part of what I am doing I am enjoying even with some setbacks. I realized I am doing exactly what I love to do, my passion.

This passion and love for my brand is what I consider the inside branding of my business. It consists of all the pieces that it takes to carry out a great brand, no matter how small or big they are but that they are executed with quality and love.

Outside Branding

Previously, I mentioned a site called elance, which connects you with all kinds of freelancers from all over the world. This time I was looking for a graphic designer, or illustrator to work on the company logo and illustrations that would be part of my business branding. After getting around 20 proposals, I decided to work with Ana from Romania. I loved her portfolio and attitude towards the project. After a couple of days of emails back and forth we finally decided on the background for the logo and one illustration. Although I am dying to have this phase of branding finished, I want it to be perfect because it will represent my brand and I know it just needs a little more tweaking. In the article, Why A Good Brand Is Important to your Marketing Strategy they discuss how a brand is more than just the logo, is a connection to potential costumers.  Your brand becomes the foundation for all of your marketing pieces, including logo, website, corporate identity, photographs, and video production. The Brand Gap

This phase of branding is also very important, since this is the first impression you are giving your potential customers. You want your costumers to keep wanting more when they see your brand, and this is possible when you take pride and you love every aspect of your work.

Is Social Media Necessary For Businesses?

~ alileo1979 ~ Leave a comment

I’m back!!! I apologize for not blogging during the weekend but my husband and I decided to do some remodeling in the house. It has helped me take my mind off the prototypes that I’m anxiously waiting for. Do you remember I said that they would be ready by Monday, meaning yesterday well they weren’t but this is yet another reminder that I have to be extremely patient. Anyway, since I have not had exciting news or big milestones these couple of days I decided to talk about a very important step in this start-up journey and that is, “Social Media”.

socialmedia

What is social media? I’ve heard that term over and over and although I thought I had a pretty good idea of what it was, I decided to do some research. First of all I recommend, “The Beginner’s Guide to Social Media” by moz.com. In this website they define social media as a way for people to communicate and interact online. Simple enough right, well once you become a master maybe, but as you are starting out it may be challenging and it will require a lot of work and dedication. Did you know that Facebook has an average of  about 890 million daily users, this information and many more can be found on Facebook newsroom. This is just one of the many different social media outlets that are available for us and free of charge. Social media is not just a way to communicate and interact online, it’s a relationship that you develop over time. In Chapter 1 of The Beginner’s Guide to Social Media they mention that if you do not cultivate those relationships with customers through your business, there will be others that will. The way I look at it is that just as you answer your friends and family’s text and emails, you should be answering to followers, subscribers, customers, etc… In Chapter 9 of Gary Vaynerchuk’s book “Crush It” he talks about the key to developing this relationships, he summarizes it into one word, CARE. And I get it, CARE for your product, business, customers, employees, readers, and so on is what represents and reflects your business and who you really are. Well this is what I think he was trying to say anyway, I hope I’m close. As I listened to this Chapter I began to remember how my grandfather would always tell me to have integrity in everything I do, regardless if people are watching me or not. And I try to live my life following his advice, sometimes it’s hard but at the end of the day it pretty much sums up the kind of person that I want to be. I guess that I made a connection between those two words, “integrity” and “care” and that is exactly what I want my business to represent.

The Importance of Feedback

In the article, “10 Companies That Totally Rock Customer Service on Social Media” they talk about the importance of how you interact with your customers. They discuss how these 10 companies strive on positive feedback from customers, making them awesome companies and very profitable. You can access the complete list of these companies along with detail information of each in the article.  I want to focus on “Nike” which is number 4 in this list. Nike has over 4 million followers on twitter, and because of this they opened a twitter account exclusively for answering customer questions or inquiries and by doing so it allows them to answer very promptly. This shows that although Nike is a huge business they still care for their customer’s needs. After all, isn’t this what is all about, feeling appreciated and being heard.

In a Forbes article, “Douglas Stone, The Importance Of Feedback In Business Communications”, Stone talks about the various aspects of feedback and how important it is that businesses learn to receive it. By the way, Douglas Stone is not only a writer, a lecturer at Harvard Law but he also consults many organizations including Honda, Fidelity and Shell according to Dan Schawbel a contributor to Forbes.com.  In this article Stone expresses the importance of recognizing the goals that the company sets in relation to their feedback. He also mentions how important it is to  understand this feedback and how to act on it.

Stone gives three career advice tips:

1. Get good not only at receiving feedback, but at soliciting it.

2. Don’t frame your request for feedback around how it helps you. Frame it around how your improvement can help the organization.

3. Ask people about their life stories. Feedback and coaching don’t have to be about you in order for it to be helpful.

Tomorrow I will continue on Integration.

Thanks for reading.

Unexpected Excitement!!!

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Yesterday I left off talking about the Company logo, and I was discussing how the graphic designer that we wanted to work with had not given me a quote. I did say that if I did not get a quote this morning, I would look elsewhere. Well, I did get it but not exactly the numbers I was hoping for it was well over my budget.  Forbes article, “7 Big Things A Start-Up Must Have to Succeed” helps me stay on task. Don’t get me wrong I do not doubt that his work is worth it, but since I am starting out I really need to stretch every dollar. Maybe once the company is making profit, he would be a great asset. And although this may sound like bad news at the time it turned out to be quite the opposite.  Minutes later of receiving the email with the quote I received a phone call from my associate, which by the way it’s time to reveal his name since I’ve been mentioning him a lot, his name is Pepe. Anyway, he called knowing I was in a state of shock after receiving the email and immediately began discussing various things that we had pending which I will tell you about in a second. Not only did he agree with me on my decision to pass on the quote but he offered to create the logo and website for my company. As you can imagine I was thrilled since like I mentioned previously, I am a HUGE fan of his work, which by the way I will post a link to his website once it’s finished. You know how they say things happen for a reason, well they do. I love the quote, “Always Believe that Something Wonderful is About to Happen” I am not sure who wrote it but I did find it on www.tinablueshoes.com. I did not get the estimate for the logo that I expected but instead got the best news that I could have asked for. Of course, I had thought about asking him to do it a while back but since he hadn’t offered I did not want to impose. During our conversation he told me that he had spoken to the shoe manufacturer and since we had changed the patterns of the new prototype it required a couple of more days to be completed which I completely understand. It is said to be ready by Monday, can’t wait. But to my surprise, I received other news which I did not expect at all. Pepe notified me that not only will the new shoe prototype would be ready but the backpack as well. A little on the backpack, we did not expect to even begin with this project yet, it was project number two but Pepe got the lead of a great leather manufacturer that was more than happy to reproduce a prototype for us. All in all this was a great unexpected exciting day, full of surprises. I will now have to get moving on the backpack designs and combinations since we moved a little faster than we had planned, but I don’t mind one bit. I also want to share with you an awesome “Infographic” that can be found in the article, “21 Ways to Get Inspired”. If you sometimes find yourself lacking inspiration this article will help you, I am going to print it out and every time I need some inspiration I will take a look at it. Until tomorrow, thanks for reading.

The need for “PATIENCE”

~ alileo1979 ~ Leave a comment

I apologize for not writing yesterday but despite my hopes there is nothing to report. I called my associate/cousin to see if the new and improved prototypes were done but the answer was “no”. I know that during this process one of the most important things is to have “PATIENCE”  and a lot of it. And since my associate’s company is participating in an EXPO this week, I know that my prototypes are not his priority at the moment which I completely understand. I just feel like a little kid waiting for her party, I want to see some new developments but I will wait and I know things will fall in place. I found this great article called, “Leadership: Power of Patience” it reminded me of this great journey that I have decided to take.  Not only do I need to exercise patience but I also need to enjoy and learn every step of the way. After all isn’t this how many successful businesses started up.

The other thing that I am baffled about is that we contacted a graphic designer that according to my associate does awesome work, but he has not send us a quote for the company logo. He was supposed to send it Monday and nothing. I completely understand that people are busy but a new client is important, don’t you guys think? For me customer service is everything, take Zappos for example they strive on costumer service hence the idea that they are doing so well. If you have not looked at Zappos vision or mission statement I suggest you do, they are a real inspiration. “In The Beginning-Let There Be Shoes”, story of Zappos beginnings. I wanted to include this story since it touches on the importance of good customer service. Any way, I’m little off subject but I will wait till the morning and If I do not have a quote, I will definitely look elsewhere. Any suggestions?

I will let you know of any new developments, for now I will keep listening to my audiobook “Crush It” that I have talked to you about in my previous blogs and really suggest you read it.

 

 

First prototype!!!

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On yesterday’s blog I left off saying that today I was going to talk to you about my first prototype. Lucky for me I have a cousin in Guadalajara, Jalisco that owns BKNG Project Company where he designs and sells high-end furniture. I really love his work, he is not only an incredible designer but a perfectionist and strives on excellent customer service. I contacted him, showed him my sketches and the company I wanted to build and he was very interested in being a part of it. This worked out perfectly sinced he already had contacts with different manufacturers from fabrics to actual shoe developers. Once we had a clear vision of what we wanted to start off with he visited a manufacturer from Guadalajara and asked for our very first prototype.

Within a week he was able to ship to me the prototype that we had talked about. It was very exciting for me to see it right in front of me instead of just in my mind. I arrived home and there was a package from DHL in my front door, I ran to the kitchen and opened it. It was not exactly how I wanted it but the most important thing was that the quality was amazing, very well crafted which is what mattered the most at this stage. The design is very important as well but that can be changed until it is perfect. After a close look my cousin which now really he is more like an associate of mine took notes of all the changes, measurements, and styles that needed to be modified. He presented it to the manufacturer and we should be receiving the new prototype on Tuesday, hopefully. I know that there might be a possibility that I may need a couple of prototypes before I get the perfect one, but I do not mind, like Gary Vaynerchuk says ‘PATIENCE”, we need a lot of patience. I will not introduce the shoe to the market until It is exactly how I want it, and I know that will happen sooner than later because we are very close. I will keep you posted when I receive the new prototype.

Tomorrow I will follow-up with a graphic designer that has done incredible work to see how much he wants to charge me for the company logo, I will let you know tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

 

More on the Business Plan!!!

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In my previous blog I was talking to you about my business plan. I gave you a brief explanation of the process and how I decided to work with Zain from India which I hired from Elance. He did an excellent job by the way and charged me only 38.00 dlls can you believe it and it was a full report consisting of more than 10 pages including all of the financials. Let me know if you guys are interested in looking at it and I can definitely attach a copy. It’s a very simple business plan since I am still in the early stages of my start-up.

I had also mentioned that I had registered my business name. It is actually very simple, just follow these steps outlined in the article, “Register your business name”.  I had already decided on a business name, the only thing I had to do was go to my local County clerk recorder office and fill out an application, show my I.D and pay 38.00 dlls. After I did this it took about 30 min for the clerk to issue me a certificate. The other thing that I had to do was to pay 50.00 dlls to my local newspaper and have my business advertised (note this amount depends on your local paper). This step is a required.  After this you have registered your business name, COOL!!!

I am writing a small blog today because it’s Friday and it’s always a little bit more busy than other days. My husband and I are going to a homeless shelter to deliver dinner, but when I am back I will talk to you about how I managed to find an associate that helped me jump from my sketches to an actual prototype.

More on that later on……

Thanks for visiting, have an awesome Friday!!!

Here it goes!!!!

Link ~ ~ alileo1979 ~ 1 Comment

Last night I kept thinking and thinking what to write on my very first blog, until I decided that I should just begin typing and writing down exactly what came to mind. Since this blog will be my journey to becoming an entrepreneur I decided to let you know what I have already done and what I will be doing. Since I’ve already reached my first milestones I will tell you with this blog and from now on, I will let you know of what my every step pertaining to building my business. Please if you have any advise or comments please feel free to let me know, I am learning as I go and I know that I will make mistakes.

First off I began researching every single kids clothing company that I love, from how they started to how they are doing right now. I researched blogs, articles, stories that had to do with start-ups, successful businesses, entrepreneurs and many more. Believe me, I’ve been doing my research. I subscribed to the, Entrepreneur Magazine it’s awesome and free, I really suggest you look it up it. In an article they give you a step by step guide to developing your business plan.

I also visit frequently the U.S Small Business Administration website, please look for the article, “10 steps to starting a business”. I have completed 2 steps of the 10, step 1. business plan, step.6 registering a business name. Some of the steps do not apply to me yet since I will begin my business online but nevetheless it’s good to cover all legal steps.

Let me tell you about my business plan, after reading and looking at samples online I decided that I would work on it myself. I did, but somehow along the middle I got stuck and I could not really figure out what to do with the financials. As I researched places that could create a business plan I realized that the costs were too high.  Also, my business plan needs to be a simple outline since I am not asking for funding yet.  And it was then that I discovered Elance. You can find all kinds of freelancers with great portfolios from all over the world and not to mention excellent prices. I posted a job stating I needed a business plan for a start-up and since elance gives you the choice to name a set price, I decided to put up to 100.00 thinking I would get very few proposals if any. In a matter of minutes I began receiving proposals from all over the world with different amounts, and after reading their ideas and portfolios I decided to work with Zain from India. It is really amazing what the internet has done for us, it has opened so many opportunities to become completely global, I just can’t stop thinking how awesome it is but back to my business plan. After 4 days and emails back and forth Zain delivered my business plan.

To be continued…..

Tomorrow I will continue with this blog since It’s getting too long and do not want to bore you……

Thanks for reading!!!