subject: Are you and your company attractive enough? [print this page] Are you and your company attractive enough?
Is your company attractive enough to do business?
What does your company look like? How does it smell? What does it taste like? What senses does it invoke in past and potential clients and what message does it send?
When starting your own business, think first of your experience in the field, the markets needs and then what it will look like. This article focuses on the third of the list: What does your company look like?
How do you feel when you walk into your favorite grocery store? You should feel clean and refreshed; like you are about to spend a bunch of money, but it is okay because this is for the good of your health and livelihood. You should not be afraid to touch the counter with the weird brown smudge or smell the sent of putrid fruit or rotten meat. The same holds true for your accountant, doctor's office, lawyer's office, and child's school. All of these places work diligently to make sure that the customer experience is one that you will enjoy and, if not share with friends, at least hold in the back of your mind as pleasant.
Now consider the extremes of this concept.
For instance, Disney World. You don't even feel like you're on the same planet! For the very small fee of just $80 per ticket (that's a little more than 6 hrs of work at $12 an hour, multiplied by the number of tickets you purchase) you can be whisked away to a magical land of oversized puppets, colorful buildings, $10 sodas, $15 slices of pizza and lines till kingdom come'. All this and you are happy to pay because of the lasting memories the commercials tell us we will have.
Have you ever been to a nasty, outdated, grungy doctor's office? You probably went there because a referral says he/she is the best doctor in town. However, you feel uneasy the entire time, and unless you receive pristine service you will probably never go back.
If you are an online business, this problem can very easily be corrected. If you are a traditional brick and mortar business, the process may be a little more involved. Contractors, permits, and general ambiance replacement can be quite costly.
Start with the basics.
Your business card These are your miniature flyers; your personal and permanent representation to everyone you speak to. The design should reflect your industry and profession yet display your contact information easily. If you are an artist you have the entire gambit of designs to look at; from special cut styles, colors, materials and design elements (Google: "Cool business card layouts" for some extreme ideas).
Adversely, if you are a mortuary, divorce lawyer, or child welfare advocate, something a little more tasteful may be the direction you'd want to travel.
Your corporate website(s) Take the time to research. I cannot preach this enough. There are great website theme sites. (Google: "cool website themes" and look at others in your industry) The above concept applies here as well. Try to think of the person landing on your site and the feeling that they want to work with you. The "common sense switch" applies here.
Provide links to additional research materials, ways to vary any licenses you may have, your full resume or profile and a full description of the services and costs that may apply. Lead them into wanting to contact you.
Design is crucially important. You have less than 1 second before someone looks at your homepage and decides if they want to stay to read what you have to say. Less than 1 second.
You Yourself - Please, please, please always be prepared for business. I'm not saying to wear a 3 piece suit to the gym, but the biker shorts at the Wal-Mart do not a proper presentation make. You never know where an opportunity will present itself and you would not want to hear someone talking behind you in line about something you know you offer but shy away from saying anything because you are wearing your favorite childhood Star Wars shirt with the mustard stain.
Practice makes perfect. Slowly update your wardrobe to things a little more applicable. Watch "What Not to Wear" onHGTV (a show I particularly hate, but realize the value of). The hosts are rude and annoying but they are wonderful at getting their point across. Overalls are never ok. Unless you're a farmer. On a farm. Farming.
