There are more than 29.6 million small businesses in the United States (as of Sept. 2009 according to the U.S. Small Business Administration Office) and in order to have a competitive advantage in that crowd, it is imperative that you have a well-designed and managed brand.

Your brand, or company’s image, serves many purposes. For starters, it is a visual representation of the promise you give to your clients to consistently deliver a specific set of features, benefits, and services. It also gives you the opportunity to attract and retain loyal customers and makes it easier to introduce new products or services. It should convince your prospects that your company is the only one that provides a solution to their problem.

Here are few simple tips to make sure your brand is concise and effective:

1. Your brand is the face of your business strategy. Decide first what your company’s values and goals are in order to ensure a well-designed brand.
2. Determine what your customer needs and wants are and integrate that through your company at every point of public contact. Poor representation of your company can tarnish a well-established brand.
3. A good brand will include the consistent use of particular elements such as; your company’s name, slogan or motto, fonts, colors, and a professionally designed logo.
4. Your brand image should be used consistently on all printed documents, company websites, all electronic communications (i.e. faxes, emails, documents, presentation, etc.), social networking platforms, and marketing materials.

Your business has value and you can convey that message simply by making sure you have a well implemented brand that is used consistently.

I'm fascinated with "communication” and ways to improve it. Not because I'm good at it, but because I know I could be much better at it. Most of us can. But I have noticed that whether I succeed or fail with an business interaction, I can often trace the outcome back to the fact that I either nailed it—effective communication—or I didn't. A few unlikely areas of focus for improved communication are:

Being Courteous – start a trend!
I love it when I hear parents of small children reminding their little ones to “say Thank You” or “don't forget to say Please.” In my family it was always “What's the magic word?” and it was, of course, “Please.” But I've noticed that it is not nearly so common to hear this in our daily communication as adults. I don't know if it is the predominance of virtual communication that causes us to feel we are more anonymous so it doesn't seem as necessary, but it truly is. And if toddlers, considered to be developmentally self-absorbed, can be polite enough to say “Please” and “Thank You,” maybe we adults can reincorporate these phrases into our daily vernacular as well. I read somewhere that it is courtesy that greases the wheels of society. Be the example. Start a trend. Practice those “pleases” and “thank yous” on everyone around you this week and notice the difference you will make as you grease those squeaky wheels in your world.

Be Punctual
This one is a pet peeve of mine (not that I'm not occasionally tardy myself, because I am, but I at least have the good sense to feel remorseful about it). The reason this is included under the topic of communication is that being late, especially habitually, is very rude. It communicates to others that you think you are more important than everyone who is waiting on you. It tells them that you don't respect their time. It devalues others. You might not intend it to say all of this, because you are just disorganized, but it most certainly does. So, if that isn't the message you'd like to communicate, take the necessary steps to be punctual and keep your commitments. It communicates respect and professionalism while developing trust that you keep your word (agreeing to a meeting at a certain time is a commitment and reinforces your intregrity).

Pay Attention
In our busy lives, we are often so engrossed with our many tasks that we try to multi-task our way through the present. In reality, brain research indicates that there is really no such thing as multi-tasking. We are simply shifting our focus from one task to another (some of us can do this so quickly that is may seem like we are doing two things at once) but we are never totally engaged on two things as the same time. That means that while you are texting or emailing during that conversation with your co-worker or your spouse, you are actually NOT giving them your full attention (and they unconsciously or consciously know it).

You know those people who you really enjoy talking with? The ones who brighten your day after just a few moments of conversation? How do they do it?

• They don't divide their attention with other tasks, but they are listening and making an effort to know more about those who are speaking. You feel their undivided attention and it is very flattering (probably because it is rare).
• They are quick to acknowledge and communicate deserved appreciate to others for their contributions. Because they are listening they can connect with your interests, comments, and input.
• They make eye contact with those who are speaking, indicating they are interested in what is being said. Their face and body language acknowledges that undivided attention.
• They are usually quick to smile and are friendly and open.
• They are sincere. All of this is effective because it is real. We recognize authenticity in one another, even something as simple as a “real” smile versus a “social” smile is correctly interpreted by our highly perceptive brains. To fake the attention while your mind is busy on what you are going to interject next or it's off on a tangent about what you need to do after this conversation ends is more transparent than we think. It might not be something we identify, but our feeling of satisfaction with our exchange is marred.

So, just try a few of these tips this next few weeks and notice the difference it makes in your communication efforts and the relationships (business and personal) around you.

Hopefully you are already encouraging your staff to smile and be welcoming to your customers, and that is definitely a good idea, but a new study shows that most of us know the difference in a sincere smile and a social smile. So, it might be easier to just hire happy people in the first place. There is a book by Dan Hill, an expert in facial coding, called About Face whose book sites studies that show that when we smile because it is the expected social behavior it is a different smile from one that isn’t actually joyful. While the book is actually about advertising, there is a lot to be learned about the tie between our primal responses and the overall feeling we come away with (in marketing or customer service).

Our brains are capable of telling the difference, and feeling joy is a pretty hard thing to fake. Our brains know the difference. In a social smile we use fewer muscles (primarily facial muscles) than when we engage a real smile. In another test, restaurant patrons who felt that servers displayed true smiles were far more satisfied with the service they received. Evidently, our brains recognize sincerity.

Few of us would argue with any of this since most of us know it intuitively. As a child, I can still remember the stern line of my mother’s mouth when I was in trouble, but I learned quickly that there was often a smile that reached her eyes and betrayed her—a dead give-away that I wasn’t really in that much trouble after all and the spanking was not forthcoming.

We, as humans, are primarily emotional decision-makers. That means our emotions will have an impact on what impressions we form about any given experience. First meetings of your publics—with your front office, your staff, and you—will be influenced by their emotional interpretations.

So, the moral of the story? Be aware that if during the hiring process your candidate doesn’t demonstrate positive, sincere emotions it isn’t likely they will do so during a customer service situation either. It is certainly something to consider when it comes to staffing those publically visible roles. Consider including an evaluation of the emotions candidates project during interview in an effort to hire happy people.  And, take it from a savvy kid, look for those smiling eyes!

For those of us who have been in business for any length of time, and especially those whose experience predates the advent of email to communicate, we understood the basic rules of written communication. But as everything moved online some of the basics seem to have gotten lost in cyberspace.

Now, as e-mail is the primary form of business communication, it is as critical as ever that we maintain standards that help us be clear and professional. Often our e-mail is our first introduction to others we do business with and so it is critical that this impression be the one we intend it to be. Here are some reminders of the basics:

1)  Subject lines – a summary of your e-mail
Don’t try to be clever or turn your subject line into a sales pitch, just describe the topic of your message. Also, be sure that as e-mail threads grow that you adjust the subject line to reflect the latest topic (or that original subject line won’t make much sense as your topics change).

2)  Grammar and Spelling – yes, it most definitely matters!
Always set your e-mail client to run a spell check before you send your e-mail, but remember that it won’t catch many other mistakes (commonly confused words, typos that are actual words, careless grammar that may make you look illiterate). If you can, set your spell checker to also check common grammar errors, and ALWAYS proof read your e-mail before hitting that send key. In fact, to be safe, don’t address your e-mail until after you have proofed your message so you don’t inadvertently send it with errors.

3) Keep It Short
The average e-mail reader skims his or her email, looking first at subject lines and then a quick glance at the content to see if he/she is ready to tackle it or move on to the next one. So, by keeping it short, you are more likely to get your e-mail read. Another smart move is to try to focus on one topic per e-mail message. The actual results of e-mail responses go way up when there is a single topic per message (so break them up into multiple e-mail messages). Of course, there are exceptions when multiple topics must be addressed and in that case, do your receiver the courtesy of clearly listing the topics along with what you want them to do with the information (bullet points are effective for this).

4) Nothing is Private—write accordingly
What you write in the privacy of your office, home, or cubicle and then send through e-mail is not ever “for your eyes only” regardless of what legalese wording you have at the bottom of your e-mails. So, be smart and never write anything in an e-mail that might inappropriate, illegal, or embarrassing to you or the recipient. While we’re reminding you to be wise, don’t forget to avoid sarcasm in business email—it’s very hard to interpret in print and can easily be misunderstood. Just be aware that comments taken out of context and forwarded can be very damaging.  And finally, remember that all electronic data (including e-mails) are immortal—they can resurrect when you least expect. Write accordingly.

5) Go Easy on "Reply To All"
Unless everyone on the "send" address bar actually needs to read your response, DON'T touch that "Reply To All" tab. It only irritates all the others on the list. How many times have you experienced an e-mail like "Who can attend the meeting at...." and then you received e-mails for two days with little blurbs like "Count me in" or "Sorry, out of town." We all get more than enough e-mail that we do care about to avoid sending out stuff no one needs. Be thoughtful.

6) Establish Good E-mail Etiquette
Whether within your business, or just in setting your own personal standards, make it a habit to respond promptly to e-mails. In business, people expect to hear back from you within 24 hours or less. If you don’t respond, they might conclude, right or wrong, that you are either too disorganized or too busy to earn their business. Remember, this may be your first impression, so make it count by being prompt and professional in all your e-mail correspondence.

Because many good marketing campaigns have an element of e-mail incorporated in them, you need to value this medium and your attitude about how you present you company when using it. Be professional (that doesn’t mean you have to be stuffy however, the tone of your e-mails can be friendly, fun, and even quirky if they follow the rules of good written communication). But sloppy, error-prone writing will always work against your credibility, and even your sales, so raise the bar for you and anyone in your company who is responding to e-mails. It will pay off in the long run!

Okay, I admit it. I drank the Kool-Aid. We joined the blogging ranks and now offer this functionality to all our business clients as well. Yes, I was hard to convince because I simply didn’t feel business owners had the time. I was also skeptical and thought it was probably a passing fad—like Betamax—and by the time I got our clients on board I’d need to switch to VHS (boy, I guess that analogy was a dead give-away of my age, huh?).

But, I think I finally get it and I’ll explain why. From a business and marketing perspective creating and maintaining a blog serves valuable purposes including:

• they are search engine friendly (adds content and information to your website which can provide you higher search engine rankings with relevant content),
• helps establish you as an expert in your industry,
• you can control your message (instead of someone else like the media or a disgruntled customer with an axe to grind),
• it builds a sense of community (where you can reach others interested in the topics you discuss and who want to learn from your expertise),
• and you can educate your customers while keeping it personable and "real."

But, since most of our clients are executives and small business owners, I just wasn’t sure it was something they would, or should, participate in. But, I’ve changed my opinion and maybe you should consider the strategy to enhance your public relations and expand your marketing as well.

As your business' Chief Executive, your primary role is being the advocate for your business and your services or products. There are plenty of sources who are glad to take the opposing role and so it is imperative that you take advantage of every avenue possible to get your message out about topics critical to your industry and to your targeted customers. A blog can be a great resource to do that. However, don’t fool yourself into thinking it is something you should begin lightly as it is a big commitment—and it takes time. But, if you aren’t afraid to be honest and transparent, don’t mind letting your customers get a sense of who you are, what is important in your industry—it is a great way for them to get to know you and to trust you. Once they trust you, they will support your business—that is when your advocacy will pay off!

You also need to be patient because most successful blogs take time to get that way—few are overnight successes, so plan to hang in there for the long haul. Oh, and be sure to use your blog as a forum to leverage other sources of social media. You can link your blog to your fan page of Facebook as well as to Twitter. Your blog will trigger updates to the others at the same time (saving you time and further expanding the distribution of your information).

For an excellent resource to getting started, check out these possibilities:

Blog Schmog: The Truth About What Blogs Can (and Can't) Do for Your Business by Robert Bly

Speak Human: Outmarket the Big Guys by Getting Personal by Eric Karjaluoto

Blogging to Drive Business: Create and Maintain Valuable Customer Connections by Eric Butow and Rebecca Bollwitt