Each One, Teach One: eCommerce OPEN Discussion (Alpha Test)
Please bear with me and let me set this up with a little background and then I will bring this up to TODAY and why I would like to try this Alpha Test…
Each One Teach One is a known African-American Proverb. This phrase originated in the US during slavery, when Africans and African Americans were denied education, including learning to read. Many, if not most slaves were kept in a state of ignorance about anything beyond their immediate circumstances which were under control of owners, the law makers and the authorities. Denying education was one of the methods used to keep them docile and instill and maintain the belief that they were inferior and unworthy of a life beyond subservience, labor and harsh treatment.
Using these methods those who were in bondage to others would teach each other. This was done in violation of state and federal law, since those in the position of power used government rule to deny slaves proper education. The denial of education made it possible for the system of slavery to exist and prosper because it is HARD to enslave an educated human.
NOW for how this relates to today….Well first and foremost I am Black and this is Black History Month so I was reviewing some of these lessons with my kids so the legacy is maintained in our home. As I am doing this study for them, I am learning more and more about myself and how learning from the past can be applied today in life and business.
Many of the ecommerce merchants that I speak with are not as astute and learned as they should be. Some of us started our businesses out of hobby selling on platforms like eBay, Etsy or Craigslist and got sudden success via these tools. Our businesses grew over time on the platforms and we learned methods for harvesting crops on the farm (ecommerce platforms) but never learned how to "own the plantation."
What we have become is somewhat similar to the days of indentured servants or share croppers. We are at the whims of the platform and its movements due to a lack of concrete education on the principles that govern ecommerce. That leaves you and I vulnerable and almost like a slave that is subject to abuse at the whims of the "master" because we simply do not know how to provide for ourselves. We are locked in fear and uncertainty about or future because there is no way out in our minds and we simply don’t see an answer. We can not adequately formulate an option or an answer due to our lack of education and ignorance of opportunity.
We can NOT expect eBay, Amazon or any other marketplace to willingly teach me how to NOT be dependant on them. It makes no logical sense for me and you to expect the owner of the plantation to teach the the servants who PAY THEM for the privilege of selling to THEIR customers…….just think about that statement for just a second…wow! We are PAYING these marketplaces to list our products so they can offer our wears to their customers as if THEY are the vendors of the products. If that is not a similar tie to a share cropping, I don’t know what it is?!?
So with that same spirit of addressing and ending ecommerce illiteracy amongst us as sellers, I would like to try an Each One, Teach One Topical Discussion here on the ColderICE.com blog. I will post a topic related to us a merchants and the the COMMUNITY…YOU GUYS will come in on the comments and post. You can post your comments on the subject, links to articles or posts to other blogs on the topic, you can post links to YouTube videos or Podcast episodes. I do not care what you post as long as it furthers the education of the community, it qualifies. But of course this will ONLY work if you participate. This is why it is an Alpha test because I want to see if the community would participate to make it great. Come on guys, lets each one, teach one!!!
Topic is… Brands and Branding: What is it? How can you do it?
OK, I need your input now so lets start posting to the thread topical information on Brands and Branding.
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Be in it to win it
Conversion Conference
A brand is everything, or nothing. You ‘do it’ in every step, every word, every email, every listing.
Your brand is an image, an avatar, a banner, a style, color or lack of and much more. Building a brand and branding your business is a process. It is work. It is wanting to get out of being forgettable and being memorable.
It is a style, the style of how you conduct your business. And it is built. First decide what you want the image or perception of your business to be. Is it funky, cool, hip, soothing, relaxed, corporate, etc. Then you build on that with images, colors, and yes communication.
One of the most forgotten pieces of branding is communication style. Think first, type later.
And a huge thanks to Tommy up above me for the shout out!
I am very interested to see what others have to say on this topic. What say you???
Phaedra Stockstill
Full Story Blog Post: http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/innova…
Branding Isn’t Just For the Big Guys Anymore
Small business has to stop treating “branding” as a Fortune 500 activity. Brand development does not mean throwing millions of dollars at a new logo or advertising campaign. The process of developing a profitable brand can take little capitol and can be completed in under six months. The return on investment for that work can be ten-fold or more. Look at it this way. A solid, recognizable brand is literally an asset to your business. It adds value because it can be sold, extended with new products, licensed and leveraged.
By no means am I a branding expert, but I feel I have done a good job getting my “brand” started in the last 6 months. Its a work in progress of course but I feel I have a good start. I was given great advice by a fellow seller (Phaedra, for those that know her) about ways to improve and expand my business. I was selling on 1 venue, moving in to a second and had a few lines of product. Taking some great advice, I looked to “brand” my biz, by targeting a specific group of people and expanding my lines according to the products that this target audience uses. I think it is important to get custom logos, and banners and apply visually appealing colors for your target audience. For me I applied lots of pinks and purples and used some of my items in my logo that appeal to my target market. I now sell on 3 different venues and have kept the look and feel of my brand across each venue so it is seamless, rather than thinking of myself as an eBay, Bonanzle or eCRATER seller alone, I am eDay Indulgence everywhere I go.
Something that bothers me I want to bring up concerning branding… I lurk on the Bonanzle discussion boards and post occassionally, but something that really is concerning is a post like the following:
“I am new to Bonanzle, goodbye eBay” blah blah blah… This is exactly the opposite of what this discussion is about I think. Why do they limit themselves to one venue? So many potential sales are being lost by limiting themselves to just one venue… I always post a response to topics like that but normally people ignore my message. “Bury the past”, just like you said John! Instead of leaving eBay and moving to Bonanzle, they should be adding Bonanzle to their biz/brand in addition to eBay.
Definitely looking forward to the ECMTA Summit to help improve my brand even more!
I wish I had realized more about the impact of personal branding when I first started on the internet about a year ago. If I had I would not have different ID's on the various blogs and selling venues I have either created or signed up for. Now that I know more about personal branding I now have to figured how to pull the various identities together. One think I have tried to do is us the same logo and avatar where ever I go as that at least is a visual cue to link the various identities. I agree you want to make sure your brand reflects you or your product line to your potential customers. So you need to do your research and now what you want your brand to reflect on the web.
I found this which offers some helpful hints to help build your brand. http://www.fordyceletter.com/2009/11/23/creatin…
Thanks for starting this conversation it will be interesting to see how it develops
Karen
Logos: Creating Your Brand in 5 Minutes:: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38a1AafHc1w
Branding is so important. As a consumer, I identify with brands and trust brands. To me, a brand tells me that there are people behind the products. With e-commerce, I feel it is important for the customer to come to my site and know there is an organization of people ready to serve them and fill their orders from behind the scenes. Many times, we never get to communicate with our customers. Since we don't communicate with the customers before the sell, the brand must communicate the culture of our company to the customer quickly. My company is a 3 man operation, but my customers assume my company is a huge organization. That's because I've branded our company as such. You can do the same. Another important aspect of branding is return customers. Customer's are more likely to remember a brand, rather than a URL. Nobody knows you customers better than you. Figure out who your customers are, what their needs and figure out a way to brand yourself in such a way that appeals to YOUR customer.
Branding is consistency. Presenting a consistent image to your customers is as easy as using the same logo and tagline on every site or thing that your customer sees. From business cards to email signatures, it must remain consistent. One of the major mistakes I made early on was having too many different domain names and logos that I was trying to market. Without focusing on one brand at a time it is hard for your customers to remember what it is you are promoting.
It is OK to have more than one brand, just keep them seperate.
John, each time I think you've impressed me enough – you add something else amazing. I am so proud of you for teaching your children the important things and not leaving that to others.
Now, as to applying slavery lessons to eCommerce education? brilliant! What an apt analogy. I am in 100% to this discussion.
my 2 cents on branding – eBay will allow you to do this more than Amazon.With eBay I consider branding to be mostly about my logo, template, etc. I try and get that in front of the customer as many times as possible during the transaction. I am currently having my store redesigned – logo and all – so most of that is on hold. Looking forward to the discussion here. I'm about given up on any customer aquisition on Amazon – hoping to get some hints here on that!
RT @colderICE Open Discussion on the ColderICE Blog this week:: What is a Brand and How do you Brand your b… http://amplify.com/u/1uiw Great idea!
A brand is a dialog. It begins with a suggestion, but it is judged by the consumer. We propose a theory of how we wish our product, service, company, ideals, or selves to be understood, but the brand is how the consumers of those things feels about us. They mix a lot into that judgment: recognition, hearsay, direct experience, surface impressions, reputation, but in the end the brand is a feeling.
Branding is a job, or rather a practice. The first task is recognition. Without recognition there is no grain of sand to seed the pearl, nothing to stick to – impressions and experience float about without accreting to anything. That is why consistency and differentiation are so vital to branding. Differentiation helps us get noticed, consistency helps us get found when we're being looked for. Adjusting the context, tuning the expectations are tools to help nudge a brand in a direction, but they are more like oars than steering wheels.
The best brands focus on authentic foundations that can be pointed to consistently over time. Not what you do, but what you bring to what you do. Not what you build, but why you built it that way. Think about Richard Branson and the Virgin brand. It is the hipness and irreverence that are the brand story and set the brand expectations, not the ticket price of the flight or the minute plan of the phone service. Those things are too easy to shop around and compare. Branson could open a Virgin shoe store and we'd walk in with expectations of experience and fun and attitude. That's the brand.
With Amazon, they try to tie your hands as much as possible. In general, you
may contact a customer who has purchased from you on Amazon.com (Amazon.com
customers) only to complete an order or to respond to a customer service
inquiry. You may not contact customers in any way for marketing or
promotional purposes (including via e-mail, physical mail, telephone, or
otherwise). The full verbiage for your agreement with Amazon is
HERE<https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/help.html/ref=ag_1701_cont_491?ie=UTF8&itemID=1701&language=en_US>
https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/help.h…
However, to my knowledge, they do not control what you put on or in your
packaging. Things like profession looking and branded packing slips,
invoices and inserts can go a LONG way to branding the experience. Remember
that the last point of contact is when that buyer opens the package.
John (ColderICE)
First order of business…John thank you for making a difference to educate merchants, small biz America on the great equalizer to them of ‘ecommerce.’
“To further expand on the Tweet –“merchants ecommerce shift: products 1st, biz/branding 2nd = innovation game changer of Google & SEO”
The gold of innovation for merchants, small biz is not in new products; moreover it is about being innovative with a ‘process.’ Small biz and local merchants are dying or being taken advantage of with the craze of social media and social (e)commerce…or another so called buzz semantic.
Most ecommerce players are missing their target audience, the true secret sauce of SEO (product/service 1st) business and branding 2nd is the paradigm shift. At the end of the day, consumers do not care about the business, or the stakeholders running the business…consumers are searching for products and services.
Why are so many searches going local? Simply put, many people are looking for products and services that are close to where they live and do business. Not only for ease of proximity but if they are ordering any products or services online they either want to go pick it up themselves or simply keep the shipping costs down. It’s really that simple.
The real trick here is Google. Google is for all intents and purposes in complete control of the merchants’ and shoppers’ destiny. There is definitely some competition, but for the most part, if people want to find anything they go to Google.com first. Which means merchants should do the same. (at least in terms of getting their products and services found). You don’t even need to know how (the ecommerce technology) works; you do it for your bottom line.
Redefining shopping locally brings in customers virtually first, then physically into their respective stores. Merchants think ‘local’ and many lack the funds or people to manage technology systems. The merchants have to be engaged to embrace but also be enlightened at the same time that in Web 2.0, ecommerce – first it is ALL about products and services…not business first. Small business owners are often the biggest obstacle in completing a sale online. The right ecommerce process/solution can change that!
With many calling themselves “Experts” these days, why would the ecommerce solution be any different?
Merchants need to answer this question: If your car needed service, who would you trust…the car salesman or the mechanic? http://zippycart.com/ecommerce-news/1191-how-ca… and then find the answer.
believe in branding, you betcha. we don't even print biz cards anymore, we're just “green spot antiuques” on the net, anywhere. One logo, one ID (where possible).
two issues worth thinking about.
1. each new network, for example todays' “BUZZ” — you have to kind of make sure you stake your claim to your name asap. Like we couldn't get a name we wanted on twitter, had to settle on “greenspotting” — still good not optimal. But each new kid on the block deserves a visit, stake your claim immediately. A bit of a time suck, but only way to make sure all outposts lead to your HOME. If you don't do it, someone else will. As a small biz you are in no position to lay claim.
2. over-branding can be an issue. If you clearly brand your biz, you have to ensure that the traffic it generates is of direct benefit to YOU. Here's an example. We were active on a Ning group as “green spot”. We found that our contributions to the group outweighed the return benefits to OUR business (ie. we lead more traffic TO the group than would ever come our way). We also found that Google searches started to show OUR name as a prominent link to the group, so much so it competed with our own websites and biz.
We rapidly changed our ID on that group to “vince jelenic” instead. In one case we left a group, deleted all our content, and had to start fresh. Now we promote our biz with id of “vince jelenic” leading to green spot antiques, and find it does not interfere with out google results at all.
Takeaway is don't overbrand yourself where it may not be of direct benefit. Not something you run into every day, but worth keeping in mind as you progress on promotion.
cheers.
Gosh, how thoughtless.
I'm always on the run…. and thus forgot the most important thing.
Kudos to you John, for pointing to your heritage, and some of the cultural values it can bring to OUR table (Me, I'm white-european-slavic). I've been thinking on it all day, and slowly came to the realization a revisit here, and a gentle thanks, was in order.
So thanks for an inviting and fresh approach to sharing info. I like it.
cheers.
Vince.
Thanks Vince!
John
Branding is the ability to leave an imprint on a person's mind of your product or service.
A brand is critical for each business’ success for it is how will people discover you and endorse and promote you to their family and peers.
My firm believes a brand must always be consistently true and never derive from its purpose.
Everybody has their own interpretation of what is a needs and what is a “want”.
The brand thrives on the principle that it always consistently satisfying it follower’s needs every time and make them come back for more and allow the loyal client to pass it on to a new client.
I disagree with your directive of not printing business cards. I may be old school but I do embrace the technology and yes sure we can use digital e-cards and all that electronic form as opposed to a traditional business card. However a business card is still great to have because you never know when your blackberry or iPhone will conk out on you.
“Things like profession looking and branded packing slips,
invoices and inserts can go a LONG way to branding the experience.”
Oh that a very IMPORTANT critical piece of information. F T W!
What is your take on flyers (I talking about the 4×6 postcard lol) honestly I like this idea a whole lot because it show you care about the customer and not just about making a quick buck!
Also you could add coupon of 15% off your next order!
I am loving this article John! You freaking rock!
@Silentbutsmart I hope you didn't take my “don't print biz cards” as a directive.
Not meant so.
We just stopped, because it fit our biz model.
We used to do shows, print pamphlets (two sided full colour), biz cards, newspaper ads.
When we made move to net, we cut out ALL that.
net result: an extra $15K in pocket each year, and we have seen no loss in biz. (granted, a bit risky, but it worked
The fact is , if I am meeting a person and can hand out a biz card, the chances are now almost 99% that they already had our contact info in hand — that's what got me to meet them in the first place. The card would be an “extra” (cost too).
I guess our choice was print cards and/or pamphlets — or use the net to distribute 1000 free pamphlets per day. We chose the latter and put all our efforts into that.
This is where the “branding” is so important.
Your mileage will vary.
If I am speaking to someone, I mention “Green Spot”. I tell them I deal in “Antiques”. They never fail to find us again, even years later
From an entrepreneur's perspective I see now where you are coming from because you have establish your brand. Yikes at $15k in expenses? I see now where you are coming from. Thanks for the clarification.
But what would you said to a start-up whom is trying to break in. Honestly I thought branding was all about getting your product/services out via a multiple form of platform.
I spend only $100 on business cards per year for my business (I have about 4,000 left to pass out) as a branding consultant for small business and start-up I am truly a big fan of business cards and flyers because it is still necessary to do some promotions via traditional method.
The key point I stress to my clients is to establish your brand's purpose first before going on a misguided marketing spending spree. It is important to do a SWOT before you execute so the Weakness can be covered by focusing on a method/strategy to minimize it via exerting the money via a form of a budget.
I am in total agreement that the internet makes it cost efficient and like you said it was a risk for you but it works for you based on your business model.
Thanks for replying and teaching me something new!
Well would my logo be OK? Check out my site. Thanks