January 8, 2009
You know the old saying, it takes a village to raise a child. The same might be said for new consultants.
As a new consultant myself, I’m very lucky to have two fabulous mentors who have been in the ring for over 3o years combined. Today I was reminded that branding my consultant business at every level is extremely important.
I knew this but just hadn’t quite gotten around to implementing it on everything. I won’t bore you with all the gritty details but I would like to highlight a few key items that are important in branding your work either in-house or as a consultant.
- Choose a font that impacts and does not bore your readers.
- Brand your Proposals
- Sell your knowledge and skills even if you don’t think now is the time
- Know your project
- Be consistent
Some of these like, know your project, are a given. Remind yourself that while working outside your comfort zone can be a good thing; having a good knowledge of the skills involved in accomplishing the project successfully is vital.
Email signatures and consistent web presences are only a part of your branding face. Cover sheets and proposal templates that allow your clients to identify you are essential.
So don’t wait until you need it. Design that proposal template now. Choose your fonts, styles etc. and save it for future use. You won’t regret it and tweaking is easier after the initial design is complete.
Constance Ard January 8, 2009
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Posted by answermaven
December 8, 2008
As a law librarian, I was very proud of the cover sheet I created for the Library & Research Service Team to use for our projects. This provided credit to the appropriate staff member and gave the library client a quick overview of the findings. It was a valuable part of our service and allowed clients to ask follow-up questions to the staff member who did the work.
Last week, I realized that I really had not done an equivalent for Answer Maven. I am in the process of getting a Trademark and I work hard to brand my emails but something was missing.
In working with a new potential client last week I realized that due to the nature of previous client projects, Answer Maven had not created an identifiable cover sheet. So yesterday morning, I took my logo and started the process.
Marketers everywhere will tell you how important brand is. Information users will tell you how important an Executive Brief is for a project. I believe in the value of the Executive Brie. Thanks to my work yesterday I now I feel confident that my clients will associate the Answer Maven brand with accurate actionable Answers.
If you are an information provider, don’t underestimate the power of an internal Information Center brand. Create it and use it, the benefits will abound.
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Posted by answermaven
