Branding Tips for Your Small Business

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The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as a ?name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers.

For that reason it makes sense to know that branding is not about getting your target market to choose you over the competition, but it is about getting your prospects to see you as the only one that provides a solution to their dilemma. It is about building a brand-presence!

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A Good Branding Perspective?

• Delivers the message clearly
• Validates your credibility
• Emotionally engages your target prospects
• Inspires the buyer
• Solidifies customer loyalty

In knowing how to deliver these objectives you must first understand the components necessary for building a strong brand; and not just any brand, but a brand-presence that speaks your message with power. Each of the following components will help you with developing and maintaining brand consistency. Brand consistency will help you to retain customers and will remind others who you are and what you are all about.

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Create Your Brand Message

Having a mission statement is pertinent to your brand?s success. A great business tagline makes your mission simple for your market to remember the main message of your mission statement. Therefore your mission statement and tagline are the core components that make your overall message SHINE! It is what your clients and potential clients will remember you by.

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Visual Branding Components

Believe it or not the visual aspects of your brand are also important to your success. Think of the Golden Arches, that infamous Pepsi Blue; or what about Target?s Bull?s Eye Red. There is no mistaking the power of color visuals for these companies. Just like the colors are important so are other visual aspects. From the logo design to the colors you choose, to your website and marketing materials, your brand must be consistent and relevant to your message.

When you think about Nike, you think about that famous swoosh on the side and you know that Nike is intended to give you value and high performance.? When it comes to companies like JC Penney?s who just changed their brand you get the sense of value at a great price. Even their new logo speaks volumes about their brand: SIMPLE!

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Personal Connection

Have you noticed how personable companies are becoming when it comes to marketing? There is a reason for that! We live in a society now where social media rules and consumer thoughts really matter because of global power through the airwaves.

Your message needs to be as authentic as your service or product. There is no other way to put it. Without a message that is real and filled with truth, you will not create the effect you desire for long term consumer relationships.

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In order for your message to be authentic, you should KNOW the following elements:

• Know who you are
• Know what your product or service is about
• Know how your product can solve a problem
• Know your market
• Know your expected ROI (Return on Investment)

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If you get a handle on these elements of an authentic message, you will find more success and a higher profit margin when it comes to sharing your message!

Branding isn?t a one shot deal, it?s an on-going juggling act of marketing, research and conversation. If you?re not tapping into those conversations with your audience, how do you know what their real impression of you is?

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Source: http://dpk-graphicdesign.com/branding-tips-for-your-small-business

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Ringneck/Psittacula - Tengo - Medium - Adult - Bird | Milwaukee ...

Ringneck/Psittacula - Tengo - Medium - Adult - Bird

Tengo is an approximately 7-1/2 year old unsexed Indian Ringneck Parakeet. IRPs are sexually dimorphic and you can tell by the ring around their necks if they are male or female. Unfortunately, Tengo is so plucked that we can't tell. We will DNA sex Tengo to determine if male or female. The previous owners believe she is a female. She is very tame and handlable. She has been exposed to children over 6 years of age with parental supervision. She has been exposed to dogs and rabbits. She will be vet checked before going to her new home and her adoption fee will be determined after her vet visit. For more information on adoption, please visit our website at www.centerforavianrehab.org, read our Adoption Policies and fill out our Adoption Application. Our Adoption Coordinator will then be in touch with you. We are located in Richfield, WI and do not ship.

CHARACTERISTICS:
Breed: Ringneck/Psittacula
Size: Medium
Petfinder ID: 24210884

CONTACT:
Center for Avian Rehabilitation & Education Inc. | Hubertus, WI | 262-628-3719

For additional information, reply to this ad or see: http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=24210884

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Source: http://milwaukee.ebayclassifieds.com/birds/milwaukee/ringneck-psittacula-tengo-medium-adult-bird/?ad=23709615

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Turner Prize nominees on show in London

LONDON (AP) ? Theatrical shows by a performance artist and drawings that make use of human excrement have gone on show at London's Tate Britain as part of the Turner Prize exhibition.

The exhibition showcases the works of the four artists nominated for Britain's most influential and most-mocked art prize, which each year awards 25,000 pounds ($40,000) to a British artist under 50.

The contenders include Spartacus Chetwynd, whose election-themed interactive piece, "Odd Man Out," asks participants to cast votes. If their choice was judged lacking, they were cast down an inflatable slide to a space littered with charred limbs.

Chetwynd is up against film and video artists Luke Fowler and Elizabeth Price, and Paul Noble, who produces detailed drawings of a dystopian imaginary city populated by human excrement.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/turner-prize-nominees-show-london-163230577.html

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Where to eat in October: Tastes of home with soul-filled food from 24 ...

Perhaps it?s the transition into fall and the longing for cooler weather that?s sparked a sentimental chord, but this month, we?re focusing on dining spots that all evoke the same thing at their core: a taste of home.

If you find yourself looking for a warm, home-cooked type of meal, you can?t go wrong with any of our Where to Eat picks for October.

24 Diner?

Hardly reminiscent of the greasy old pits you find on along the highway, 24 Diner is a bright and sunshiny locale giving a warmhearted nod to classic, homestyle American dishes ? for breakfast, lunch and dinner ? with a modern twist and a deep commitment to fresh, local foods.

Say the name of this place around a group of friends and you?ll immediately illicit a list of favorite dishes. ?The mussels!? ?No, the bacon, avocado burger is the best.? ?My favorite is the chicken and mashed potatoes.? If you ask me, it?s the fried egg sandwich with bacon on a slightly sweet pain au lait bun that says it all. The truth is, it?s all good. And it?s all done in the spirit of home.

Even more of a treat is taking advantage of the special dinners chef Andrew Curren and his wife Mary Catherine host periodically throughout the year, where the two concoct a menu drawing on other influences in their culinary history. Take for instance a recent Monday five-course meal paired with beers from California-based Lagunitas Brewing Company where Curren prepared a Mexican-inspired menu that included seared octopus and red-snapper ceviche and a rich and earthy chicken mole served with crispy fried corn cakes.

Mary Catherine worked her magic with a fruity apricot-guajillo chile flan reminding the packed house that at 24 Diner, there?s a lot more to home cooking than just classic American cuisine.

?Those who fell in love with the hearty, and somewhat gamey, homestyle cooking of Chef James Holmes will soon be able to welcome some of his signature dishes back to the Olivia menu.?

Kom?

For someone who lives south of the river, Kom? isn't?exactly in my neighborhood, but sometimes the best things in life are those that require a little effort. And in truth, it's a solid place for good, traditional style sushi. This little Airport Blvd. restaurant is the creation of Takehiro and Kayo Asazu, two native Japanese ex-pats who longed for the comfort of homestyle traditional Japanese food. More than that, they wanted to open their warm memories of home into a public dining room for all to enjoy.

The Kom? Vich?, a ceviche including madai (Japanese bream), salmon and mango is vibrant and fresh, the tempura is light and flaky. The camembert cheese tempura served with honey is more for those craving something rich and decadent. And for lunch on a cool fall day, you can't beat a warming bowl of ramen ? I like the miso ramen with tender pork and greens the best.?

Olivia

Olivia chef/owner James Holmes is back in the kitchen of his first restaurant after making sure his second concept, Lucy?s Fried Chicken, was up and running. What may be a bittersweet exit for chef Andrew Francisco whose refined skill wowed Olivia regulars (and will likely do the same when he opens Mettle with Bridget Dunlap), those who fell in love with the hearty, and somewhat gamey, homestyle cooking of Holmes will soon be able to welcome some of his signature dishes back to the menu.

Items such as goat ?fries? make their return as does a rotation of Holmes? favorite recipes for mussels. As for brunch, we can still look forward to such Sunday favorites as house-cured salmon with pumpernickel and all the fixin's or the creamy Southern classic of shrimp and grits made with gouda cheese.

Olivia may have been in more than capable hands with Chef Francisco, but with Holmes back in the saddle, the only appropriate thing to say is, ?Welcome home, chef.?

THIS ARTICLE IS PART OF AN EDITORIAL SPECIAL SERIES

Source: http://austin.culturemap.com/newsdetail/09-26-12-22-49-where-to-eat-in-october-bringing-it-home-with-soul-filled-food/

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National Polls: Race Tightens Among Likely Voters, Obama Approval On Economy Ticks Up

President Obama built a small lead in the national polls throughout September, but two surveys released Monday showed the race reverting to the neck-and-neck status the contest has known most of the year.

New numbers from ABC News and the Washington Post showed Obama with a 49 percent to 47 percent lead over Republican nominee Mitt Romney among likely voters, and another poll from Politico and George Washington University (GWU) produced the same result. While those numbers suggest the state of the race is relatively unchanged, the view of the economy ? the election's most important issue ? has seen a slow but steady movement over the last year.

"Ratings of the economy, while very negative, have grown less intensely so since late August (39 percent say it's in poor shape, down from 45 percent)," ABC pollster Gary Langer wrote in his analysis. "Obama's 47 percent approval rating for handling the economy, while still underwater, is numerically its highest in more than two years. And views that the nation is headed seriously off on the wrong track have eased by 9 percentage points to the fewest since January 2011."

Overall, the PollTracker Average of the president's approval on the economy has evened out as election day nears, but still remains negative.

Romney has a slight 2-point advantage on which candidate is better to handle the economy going forward in the Politico/GWU poll, and a 1-point advantage on who would be better to create jobs. But as time has gone on Romney's lead on the economy has dissipated, especially in the last month as economic and other polling data has shown Americans are feeling slightly better about the nation's growth.

The overall PollTracker Average of the national race has shown an Obama lead of about 3 to 4 points throughout September, and with the addition of the new polling stands at 2.6 percent.

The ABC/Washington Post used 813 interviews with likely voters via landline and cell phone, conducted Sept. 26-29. The Politico/GWU poll used 1,000 interviews with likely voters reached by landline and cell phone conducted Sept. 24-27. The ABC/WaPo poll has a sampling error of 4 percent and Politico/GWU's survey has a 3.1 percent sampling error.

(Photo Credit: Brett Marty Photography)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/national-polls-race-tightens-among-likely-voters-obama-155426659--politics.html

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Unintimidable: Boston University's 'Silver Unicorn'

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Unintimidable: Boston University's 'Silver Unicorn' Townhall, by?Jeff Jacoby Original Article Posted By:Judy W., 9/30/2012 7:38:56 AM "I've never been intimidated by anyone," John Silber once told me. "I don't know the meaning of the word." I never doubted it. Twice I worked for the former Boston University president, who died Thursday at 86. (Snip) Several years later, with both law school and my exceedingly brief legal career behind me, I returned for a full-time job with the exalted title of Assistant to the President. However lofty the title, reality was something else. Having John Silber as a boss, I quickly learned, was an ongoing adventure in being put in one's place. Comments: This piece has some wonderful stories about Silber. He was in the news a lot in the 1980s and 1990s but I haven't heard anything about him since then. He was a good guy. Reply 1 - Posted by: seminolesecure, 9/30/2012 8:55:39 AM?????(No. 8899951) I went to Boston University in the late 70's when he was president and turning the school around in amazing fashion. He was hated by the hippies and the professors. He wanted excellence from his professors, fired them if they weren't, and we can't have that. He did not knuckle under to political correctness. Ever. Reply 2 - Posted by: grampus, 9/30/2012 9:22:38 AM?????(No. 8899988) I spent a good part of a day, one-on-one, with this remarkable man in the late 1980s. He had come to my office regarding BU's program for the military in Europe. He was business-like and cordial. We took the Metro to the Pentagon for a face-to-face with a (my)three-star general. The result was not what he had wanted, but he remained very polite to me on the return to my office, sharing with me a bit of his younger years in Texas. Had he possedd two "good" arms, Silber's career might well have been military....in which case he could well have been the four-star boss of my three-star general.

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Reply 3 - Posted by: sinic, 9/30/2012 10:01:33 AM?????(No. 8900044) I lived in MA most of my life, and remember John Silber well. He ran for governor as a Democrat, but didn't win partly due to his George S. Patton style of dealing with everything. He lost to Willaim "Pink Floyd" Weld, who wasn't really all that bad a governor in a Democrat controlled state like MA, but was a little bit on the odd side. Silber didn't pull any punches whatsoever, and couldn't have cared less who he offended in the process. He took BU from an also ran to one of the largest and most successful universitys in the area. He was a good guy, and I doubt that you'll ever see another one like him. Below, you will find ... Most Recent Articles posted by "Judy W." and Most Active Articles (last 24 hours) Most Recent Articles posted by "Judy W." Unintimidable: Boston University's 'Silver Unicorn' Townhall, by Jeff Jacoby??? Original Article Posted By: Judy W.- 9/30/2012 7:38:56 AM ??? Post Reply "I've never been intimidated by anyone," John Silber once told me. "I don't know the meaning of the word." I never doubted it. Twice I worked for the former Boston University president, who died Thursday at 86. (Snip) Several years later, with both law school and my exceedingly brief legal career behind me, I returned for a full-time job with the exalted title of Assistant to the President. However lofty the title, reality was something else. Having John Silber as a boss, I quickly learned, was an ongoing adventure in being put in one's place. "The Country He Served" National Review, by Mark Steyn??? Original Article Posted By: Judy W.- 9/29/2012 7:56:42 AM ??? Post Reply My weekend column muses on the glorious future foreseen by Obama?s speech to the General Assembly. But I?ve also been struck by the following passage on the late Chris Stevens, mysteriously asphyxiated by a spontaneous class-action movie review, as every government official from the Commander-in-Chief to his UN Ambassador has so persuasively argued. Last week, the President paid tribute to Stevens thus: (Snip) Chris Stevens loved his work. He took pride in the country he served, and he saw dignity in the people that he met. What does that phrase ?the country he served? mean? ACLU Sues to Stop Citizenship Question on Michigan Ballots American Thinker, by Robert Knight??? Original Article Posted By: Judy W.- 9/29/2012 6:38:18 AM ??? Post Reply Only citizens of the United States can legally vote in federal elections. So Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson added a yes/no question on ballot applications that asks: "Are you a United States citizen?" According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan, this simple requirement is "an election day disaster in the making." So the ACLU did what it usually does, which is to sue. How Obama and Allies Are Suppressing News of Economic Disaster Ahead Frontpage Magazine, by Arnold Ahlert??? Original Article Posted By: Judy W.- 9/29/2012 6:14:30 AM ??? Post Reply On May 7th, it was revealed that the Obama administration spent $8.35 billion on a ?demonstration project? designed to postpone the vast majority of Obamacare?s Medicare Advantage cuts until after the election. On July 31st, it was revealed that the Labor Department warned defense contractors against notifying workers of impending layoffs before the election as well, despite the fact that it would require violating the law to do so. On September 21, it was revealed that a report on the Greek bailout will also be postponed until after the U.S. election.

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Akin, the Standard-Bearer American Thinker, by James Simpson??? Original Article Posted By: Judy W.- 9/28/2012 9:20:02 AM ??? Post Reply Tuesday, September 25, was the last day U.S. Senate Candidate Todd Akin (R-MO) could withdraw from the race. And he isn't going. So the GOP standard-bearer is Todd Akin; he needs our help, and we need to support him. Yes, he made a stupid remark, and as a result, what should have been an easy Senate win turned into a hotly contested race. He apologized profusely, but rather than come to his aid, Republicans of every stripe denounced him and called for his resignation. This is idiotic. Despite this widespread trashing, recent polls indicate Climate Realism American Thinker, by Fred Singer??? Original Article Posted By: Judy W.- 9/27/2012 6:39:07 AM ??? Post Reply Even with the Kyoto Protocol due to expire at the end of this year, Obama persists in giving highest priority to climate change policy if re-elected. Does the U.S. really want to lead the world in committing economic suicide? It pays to look at the rapidly disappearing scientific rationale for trying to mitigate a putative future global warming. (Snip) Two crucial points may have been overlooked in the debate: **Evidence for anthropogenic global warming (AGW) is problematic. **A modest warming is likely to be beneficial -- not damaging. The Film ?Innocence of Muslims? ? Made By Terrorists? Frontpage Magazine, by Walid Shoebat??? Original Article Posted By: Judy W.- 9/26/2012 7:03:02 AM ??? Post Reply When it comes to the film Innocence of Muslims, our government and the media use a narrative mired in contradictions and false statements provided by the filmmaker, who himself is an untrustworthy source. If we stick to what can be proven we might obtain the possibility that terror supporters produced the film. Muhammad Al Dura and Paliwood are two cases in point, showing the type of stunts used by Palestinian terrorists. So lets examine facts instead of the filmmaker?s fiction: Most Active Articles (last 24 hours) We Recommend Mitt Romney for President Dallas Morning News, by Editorial??? Original Article Posted By: Muguy- 9/29/2012 7:27:38 PM ??? Post Reply Barack Obama will forever be a historic, as well as historical, figure in American life. Candidate Obama, an orator of great skill and cadence, might have overcome everything and put the U.S. on a brighter path. President Obama, unfortunately, fell short of the challenge. We see evidence of Obama?s shortcomings in his re-election campaign, a relentlessly negative push to disqualify his opponent instead of standing on his accomplishments. Barney Frank: End 'Tea Party nightmare' Washington Examiner (D.C.), by Paul Bedard??? Original Article Posted By: Scottyboy- 9/29/2012 11:05:56 AM ??? Post Reply The political fundraising frenzy has entered the extreme stage this weekend as an 11th hour deadline looms, with retiring Rep. Barney Frank labeling the Tea Party a "national nightmare" that needs to be eliminated and former President Clinton issuing a virtual disaster proclamation of what GOP rule would bring to the nation. In an email to Democrats, Frank blamed the nation's ills on the Tea Party that sent members to Washington in 2010 when voters expressed displeasure with one-party, Democratic rule. "This is our chance to end the national nightmare of Tea Party Republican rule," he wrote.

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Islamic group calls for ban on offending prophet Associated Press, by Staff??? Original Article Posted By: Photoonist- 9/29/2012 5:46:20 PM ??? Post Reply United Nations - The head of a leading Islamic organization Saturday called for a global ban on offending the character of the Prophet Muhammad, saying that it should be equated with hate speech. Such a ban would demonstrate how an interconnected world respected different cultural sensitivities, said Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in an interview with The Associated Press. "If the Western world fails to understand the sensitivity of the Muslim world, then we are in trouble," Ihsanoglu said. Such provocations pose "a threat to international peace and security and the sanctity of life." 1 million Ohioans using free phone program Dayton Daily News, by Josh Sweigart??? Original Article Posted By: MDMuskrat- 9/29/2012 1:39:04 PM ??? Post Reply A program that provides subsidized phone service to low-income individuals has nearly doubled in size in Ohio in the past year ? now covering more than a million people. (snip) [E]ligibility is dependent on having a low income or being in a program such as food stamps or heating assistance, and that population is ballooning, they say. ?I am unable to have a cellphone and I need one for emergencies,? said Aliesa Azbill of Dayton, (snip) She said the 250 free minutes she gets per month through SafeLink isn?t enough to use it for much more than emergencies. Benghazi Worse than Watergate PJMedia, by Roger L Simon??? Original Article Posted By: steveW- 9/29/2012 10:48:08 AM ??? Post Reply For over forty years now, the Watergate scandal ? the June 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and the subsequent cover-up by the Nixon administration ? has been the sine qua non of American political malfeasance. It has been followed by myriad other ?gates? affecting both parties but has never been superseded. Until now. Benghazi or Benghazigate, as some call it, is worse. Far worse. Incomparably worse. Watergate caught numerous public officials lying, including the president of the United States, but Benghazigate has all that and more. Sen. Boxer To Tea Party: "Intimidating Voters Is A Federal Offense" Real Clear Politics, by Ian Schwartz??? Original Article Posted By: KarenJ1- 9/29/2012 12:18:49 PM ??? Post Reply "I know everyone?s paying attention, I know the Obama campaign is ready to act on this. But I realized that there are two important federal laws, the Voting Rights Act, passed in the 60s, and Voter Registration Act passed in the 90s, that have criminal and civil penalties for people who try to intimidate a voter. And I wanted to make sure that the Justice Department is moving on these cases. So I did hear from them today, and although they can?t confirm or deny any particular case because I wrote about Ohio, they did say that Can You Be a Good Muslim and a Good American? PJ Media, by Rick Moran??? Original Article Posted By: KarenJ1- 9/29/2012 12:10:16 PM ??? Post Reply There are many Muslims in the US who are both good Muslims and good Americans. They ?get it? when it comes to free speech and the separation of church and state. It doesn?t mean they don?t hate the Innocence of Muslims film and won?t protest against it in a similar way Christians protested against the Andrew Serrano photo ?Piss Christ.? But it does mean that they have successfully assimilated and adopted the American reverence for freedom of thought and expression. But for some Muslims activists who don?t ?get it,? there is advocacy for international anti-blasphemy laws that

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Source: http://www.lucianne.com/thread/?artnum=704206

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The Typical Boxing Workout in Burbank - Brazilian Jiu Jitsu In Burbank California | Brazilian ...

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