Alan R. Bechtold has released the latest issue of E-Wealth Report. This featured article is titled “Branding Is An Every Day Thing…”. [E-Wealth Report]


Alan Bechtold has released the latest issue of ‘E-Wealth Report’ Newsletter.

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Branding Is An Every Day Thing…

I was working in my office one Saturday afternoon when a knock came on the door. Actually, it was more like pounding. It was forceful enough to make me jump.

We’re closed Saturdays. There are no employees. Customers who call in expect to leave a message. It’s a perfect situation for me to get caught up on some work and try new things without any interruptions. I work most Saturdays for this reason — and because I love what I do so much I just can’t find a lot else to do on a Saturday that would be more entertaining or productive.

Still — it’s QUIET when I’m working in the office alone.

We’re located in a nice older office building on a main thoroughfare that cuts from Highway 75 directly to Bonita Beach. That could be why they named it Bonita Beach Road. I’m not sure of that … but it certainly makes sense .

The street out front is always busy. Since it’s now winter and our population has doubled, as usual, as the “snow birds” and tourists pour in, it’s busier than usual.

Still, the office complex itself is pretty quiet on the weekends. Almost spooky.

There is also a wooded area between my office and the greyhound track. Rumors persist that homeless people live in these woods. Occasionally, I see police cars parked in our parking lot, going into the woods apparently to rouse some poor hapless soul out of his or her sleep and accuse them of one crime or another.

As you can tell — I don’t automatically suspect homeless people of crime. I know how far too many of these people became homeless and crime has nothing to do with it or with the way they currently live in most cases.

Still — it’s a bit unnerving. So I always keep the doors locked when I’m working alone in the office on weekends or evenings. It’s just good common sense.

This guy at my door pounded even louder, so I got up and approached the door.

He was standing at the front door of the office. Our back door is solid steel. The front door is a full-length glass door. I kept the door locked and asked him, through the glass, what he wanted.

He said, “Do you belong to the white Accord in the parking lot?” He looked IRRITATED.

I couldn’t imagine why he wanted to know that, but I told him “no.” Then he simply turned and walked away, to knock on other doors.

He did get my curiosity aroused. He wasn’t really rough-looking or anything — though he was dressed like he was ready to paint a house or crawl under a car and start changing the oil. A plain T-shirt and old jeans, if I remember correctly.

I moved to the back door of my office (the door that opens into the parking lot) and opened it. I saw no cars at all in the parking lot except for mine, parked near my office door … and one lone white Accord, parked right up against the back brick wall that runs the entire length of the parking lot, separating our office complex from an apartment complex behind.

That’s when I knew who that guy was and why he wanted to know about that Accord!

We’d been notified, earlier in the week, that the back brick wall was due to be power washed, then painted. The note stuck in all of our doors in the complex asked that we not park against that wall that Saturday, because that’s when someone would be power washing the wall, prior to painting it.

I don’t know if this guy was a regular maintenance worker for the owners of the complex, but I’d never seen him before. I assume he’s an outside contractor. Probably an employee of an outside contractor hired to wash and then paint that back wall.

But — he wore nothing to indicate he was working for anyone. He looked like someone who just walked in off the street — and not a particularly well-dressed someone at that. And he never once announced who he was or why he wanted to know who owned that car.

And he looked so — IRRITATED! My first thought was that he was someone who had HIT that car in the parking lot!

Don’t worry — there IS a marketing lesson here. I’m getting to it.

Whoever he is — even an individual working on contract — he should be BRANDING his business!

Sure — a T-shirt and jeans is a perfect outfit for power washing a wall. But — how much does it cost to have T-shirts printed with a company name and logo on them?

Even if your company is just you, if you meet face-to-face with clients and customers, wouldn’t it look really cool to have a shirt PRINTED with your company name and logo on it?

If nothing else, just think about the time it would save you every morning, when you ordinarily have to decide what you’re going to wear that day.

I would have seen that this guy was with the company doing the power washing on the wall that day if he had worn a T-shirt with a company name and logo on it. I would have been much more open to someone who appeared to be working for a company I knew would be working around the complex that day.

I have a home of my own and so do the other people in the office complex — and they all need power washing at times. Florida’s like that. Seeing the company name, it would have been imbedded in my mind and I might even have called them later, when I needed some power washing of my own.

I would have certainly noticed the company name and logo on that shirt later, even if he hadn’t had to bang on my door, while he was washing that wall.

Short of that, he could have ANNOUNCED who he was and who he was with after he got me to the door — but he didn’t.

Instead, there was no impression made at all.

Wearing a branded shirt could have led the company or that individual to more business as a result of that job. Without it, I’m sure this job was the end of the line. The company or individual doing that power washing would have to go back to finding more customers through ads and flyers and other costly means.

Don’t overlook all the ways you have of branding yourself while you’re performing the service or delivering the products you’ve sold. Don’t assume the customer knows who you are already and never assume no one else will notice.

When you ship a product, BRAND THE BOX! Mail delivery personnel are people, too. They buy things and they notice brands like anyone else, whether they’re on the packages in their bags or on the billboards they pass while delivering the mail.

When someone calls your phone and gets an answering machine, make it clear WHO you are and WHAT you do on your message. Even a wrong number could hang up with your brand and purpose imbedded in his or her brain.

This can make or break you. And the EFFECTS of branding can be huge, always resulting in word-of-mouth FREE leads and sales.

In the world of multi-million dollar corporations and ad agencies, branding is expensive. You can do it on a dime or two, if you’re clever about when and where you proudly display your logo and company name.

The company doing that power washing had an opportunity to stand out in my mind. Because of their lack of insight into all the branding possibilities at their disposal, they’ll have to battle all their competitors when I do eventually turn to the task of finding someone to do some power washing for me.

It’s interesting to note that, this Saturday, as I write this, someone will be back to PAINT that back wall. You can bet your keyboard I’ll be keeping an eye out for them to see what branding opportunities they’re missing.

Gifts? Boy, do I have gifts!

Mark Hendricks’ 12 Days of Christmas giveaway is still going, and the list of gifts you can grab, at no cost or obligation, just keeps growing by the day.

As you read this, I believe he’s up to day 10 or even 11. It’s almost done, so you’ll have to hurry — but there’s still time to sign up and get in. Then, after celebrating the holiday, you can relax by grabbing hoards of high-quality, ORIGINAL gifts that will help you make 2008 the best year yet.

Just sign up here and enjoy:

http://www.hunteridge.com/12days/

That’s a wrap for this year. Unfortunately, I won’t see you next week. Or the week after. There won’t be new issues of E-Wealth report published next Thursday, December 27, or the following Thursday, Januaryh 3, as we celebrate the Christmas and New Years holidays. That means this is our final experience together as 2007 winds to a close.

I want to wish all of you who celebrate these holidays a HAPPY, WARM, fulfilling and relaxing time surrounded by those you love and who love you. This is wealth beyond any measure and all too rare in the world today.

I look forward to starting off your New Year the RIGHT way Thursday, January 10, when we kick off 2008 together.

See you then!

Alan R. Bechtold

President/CEO

BBS Press Service, Inc.

‘E-Wealth Report’ Newsletter

*IMNewswatch would like to thank Alan Bechtold for granting permission to reprint the latest article.

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