Author: Ken Granger

For eight years Ken was the Director of Operations for a multi-million dollar retailer at Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and Universal Studios Orlando. During his tenure, the company grew to support over 60 Cast Members and nine retail locations. Ken excelled at delivering a unique product to millions of theme park visitors every year and worked with theme park executives to build strong relationships

5 Tips for a More Consistent Brand in 2018

Posted on by Ken Granger

The success and growth of your small business hinge in great part on your ability to build brand consistency. Contrary to popular belief, your brand is much more than your logo or name. Building your brand requires dedication to developing a consistent strategy, call to action, and mode of communicating with your client. Below is a look at the key role of brand consistency and some effective ways that your small business can build brand consistency.

Why is brand consistency important for small businesses?

A key challenge for small business owners is building authenticity for their companies. Fortunately, this can be achieved in a cost-effective manner by promoting brand consistency. In order to be successful, brand consistency must extend beyond your products and services to every element of your organization. Below are some of the top reasons why brand consistency is important for small businesses:

  • Brand consistency builds your company’s legitimacy
  • Customers are able to recognize your company quickly
  • Consistency gives your business a professional image
  • Prospects are more likely to trust your company
  • Brand consistency helps keep all company employees on the same page
  • Your pitches to prospective clients are more apt to be well-received

How can a small business establish brand consistency?

Clearly, there are many reasons why small business owners should strive to establish brand consistency. From building company recognition to fostering trust, brand cohesiveness is vital to taking your business to the next level of success. There is no single step to take to achieve brand consistency. As a business owner, you must use a compilation of strategies to give your brand a unified voice. Below are some key ways that small businesses can build a consistent brand:

1) Create a brand guide for your company and employees. A brand guide is a helpful document that will help ensure that all of your employees are on the same page with respect to branding. Topics to reference in your brand guide include your logo usage, brand colors, media formatting, and signage.

2) Use the same font across all media. One of the best ways to create a cohesive brand experience for your customers is to use the same typeface for all client communications. As summarized by Wistia designer, Joe Ringenberg, this measure helps to give your brand a unified voice:

“For a brand to have a personality, all the things it makes need to look like they were drawn by the same hand,” – Joe Ringenberg, design lead at Wistia.

3) Keep colors consistent across all media. Maintaining consistency in your company colors is a critical part of the branding process. You can help keep your colors consistent by streamlining your vendors and using color management software.

4) Regularly review your media and update any inconsistent items. Performing an annual content audit helps to ensure that you correct any inconsistencies in color, font, or formatting. Your content audit should include a thorough review of your website, social media pages, business cards, and media.

5) Make sure to incorporate your brand into your company culture. Your offices, vehicles, and employee presentations should all reflect your company’s brand in the same fashion. Additionally, brand consistency should be integrated into all employee onboarding activities and training initiatives.

The Bottom Line

Brand consistency plays a vital role in establishing a small business as a legitimate organization. By following the tips above, you can create a consistent, professional company image that your customers will immediately recognize. For more information on bolstering your company’s online presence, you can enlist the guidance of an industry expert. By seeking the expertise of a branding expert, you can help your small business gain a competitive edge in your industry.

SEO for the Busy Entrepreneur

Posted on by Ken Granger

In the real estate business, SEO is the key to being discovered and to gaining user engagement. By virtue of the profession, a good SEO strategy requires a keen attention to detail, and using your location as a key component of the strategy to really drive users and gain a following.

A well-crafted SEO strategy will likely need some patience in the beginning, as well as a decent amount of tweaking in order for it to be really successful.

However, the best way to mitigate the number of edits needed after an SEO strategy is deployed to follow some of these key tips, and use these to design a strategy that will give you the following you need to be successful in digital marketing.

1. Original content is key

Many real estate agents often fall victim to their busy schedules and are unable to create original content efficiently. This leads to more copy-pasting and using social media sporadically to gain a following. Unfortunately, though, that is not an effective long-term SEO strategy.

Copy-pasting content will hurt your SEO rather than help it and will make it that much more difficult to stand out in the millions of search results being presented to users. Taking time out to develop original content might seem like a heavy investment of resources essentially, but it is well worth the effort.

2. Being hyper-local is essential

The key component of a good SEO strategy for real estate agents? Leveraging the hyper-local business of your nature. It is far more essential to invest resources in local SEO efforts rather than general. Local SEO efforts are able to yield great results and this will help you gain a local following that can be converted into loyal users.

Real estate is all about location, so think about search results in a similar manner. You want to ensure that you are the forefront of your local scene and that users are able to easily find you and differentiate you from the crowd.

3. Become a key provider of lifestyle information

You might be wracking your brain for original content ideas, especially from a long-term perspective. One of the best ways to develop original content for your SEO efforts is to really think about the lifestyle you are offering and how to explain that to users.

Whether it is providing information on amenities, location or just the general lifestyle – develop content that will help users feel like they are experiencing what the properties are all about without needing to be there. Once you gain a consistent rhythm in publishing this content, you will become a key provider that users will look to learn more.

4. Become a local expert

The earlier point also relates to this one in terms of long-term content ideas. Balance the lifestyle information with content that is geared towards positioning you as a local expert. This could include events in the area, fun restaurants and nightlife options, and just general information.

Users are going to look at your content to learn more about the lifestyle but also about the area, so use your content as a way to showcase that. This will highlight what makes these properties more unique compared to others based on the local events taking place, and drive your SEO efforts as a local expert.

5. Continually find ways to be helpful

At the end of the day, your SEO efforts will be successful if you are able to deliver value to your users. Use your content and website to be as helpful as possible, from the kinds of articles you offer to the text you use on your website landing pages.

A successful SEO strategy rests on the idea that you are providing real content and value to your users, and that is what will drive your popularity. Finding innovative ways to make your content more helpful and useful will be what really drives your success, so it is important to keep the focus on that.

It’s time to get excited about your Brand!

Posted on by Ken Granger

The excitement is real when we reveal your new branding package.  This is a video Bryan Dale shot after printing his package.  I’m super proud of this brand and want to say thanks to Bryan for trusting us with such an important part of his business!

 

Dreams are coming to life. I am very excited for what's coming next! #goldteam #branding #realestate #kellerwilliams

A post shared by Bryan Dale NYC???????????? (@daleproperties) on

NAR Announces Free Placester Websites for Members

Posted on by Ken Granger

Yesterday the news has hit that the National Association of Realtors will be including websites from Placester into their benefits packages at no additional charge. Placester is the home of IDX websites, lead management, and more in an all-in-one digital marketing platform for real estate professionals. Placester’s mission is to help real estate professionals work smart in a digital world. Their solutions enable individuals and teams to identify and benefit from more opportunities, all while providing an outstanding experience for real estate consumers.

The addition of all NAR members means there will be 1.2 million real estate websites hosted on Placester’s already robust platform. These new perks include a website with IDX integration, mobile-readiness, and mortgage-calculator. Not to mention, many more amazing add-ons within the platform.

BrandCo has been on the forefront of design integration within the Placester platform as the first Placester Certified Partner. Being one of three companies that have full ability to customize the website’s look and feel past the provided templates, we have designed and launched over 800 Placester websites in under a year. Having a custom design for your site has become more important than ever with the introduction of this new NAR benefit.

Do you want to potentially have a website that looks quite like the other 1.2 million real estate agents within the platform? Stand out with a design that speaks directly to your audience about your business. Take a look at what we have to offer to build the value of a website that can speak volumes for you.

You can read the full article here with an Inman subscription

This Is Why You Fail – 4 Mistakes To Avoid On Your Website

Posted on by Ken Granger

Every website owner begins their journey to taking over their piece of the internet with enthusiasm. However, that enthusiasm typically fades over time and websites are left to fend for themselves. Unfortunately, no website is meant to be ‘set it and forget it’. Not to mention, there a number other items that website owners overlook that are huge pitfalls when it comes to being successful. Over time, websites need love and dedication and should be ready to upgrade when new industry standards take place. Hopefully, your website will be safe from these next 4 blunders that typical website owners make…In the words of Yoda, “This is why you fail.”

Not Mobile Friendly

That largest majority of internet surfing these days is done on cell phones or other mobile devices. If your website isn’t ready to be viewed on these new popular devices, you’re at an instant disadvantage. I can’t tell you how many websites I’ve immediately left because it wasn’t easily viewable on my cell phone. You have probably the same experience.

Responsive websites even take a priority when indexed within Google. If this isn’t a huge plus for taking your older websites mobile friendly, I don’t know what is! Almost two years ago, Google saw the trend of mobile devices doing the majority to searches and wanted to make it easier for those of us on the go. Having a website that responds to the size of the screen is a big one. A must!

An Overloaded Menu

Short and sweet is the name of the game when it comes to the navigation to your website. A website that has too much in its menu proves to its visitors that there’s no focus. Think through the journey that you’re wanting people to take through your website, these are the items that should be on your menu. Organize this in a way that makes sense for the audience that you’re attempting to attract, not just in what makes sense to you.

Every page of your website does not need to be on your menu! The goal is to get your visitors to from page to page as you have your content designed to interconnect, creating a higher potential for click through.

Not Regularly Adding Content

Adding content on a regular basis allows for you to continuously get more potential links in search engines. This is one of the most important ways to gain exposure aside from marketing. Google sends out spiders that crawl all over the words on websites, finding answers to your questions. The more words you put on your website that you expect your audience to type into the search engines, the more likely you are to be found. Not to mention, this keeps your website active and current, adding to it by way of pages and posts that can lead to one another. This is the biggest key to a successful website and one that is most often overlooked. Maintaining your website definitely, involves adding content regularly.

Forgetting About SEO

Search Engine Optimization takes an additional step to adding that content to make a difference with your website. While adding content is extremely important, doing a little extra work when you do so, can really pay off. Things like meta descriptions and meta titles take seconds to create and will make Google happy. Not to mention, adding alt text to your images, takes your imagery the extra mile. Other things, such as submitting your website’s sitemap to search engines, helps give them the opportunity to know what all your site has to offer.

 

Now that you know the 4 common mistakes when it comes to websites, you know what you can do to make a difference with your site and to become a successful part of the internet. Now, go forth, Padawan, and conquer!

How to Make your Website “Sticky” by Improving your Bounce Rate

Posted on by Ken Granger

We’ve all done it before.  Clicked on a website and thought to ourselves’ “ew no”  and clicked the back button.  In essence, we’ve “bounced” off their website.  Officially “bounce rate” can be defined as:

The percentage of visitors to a particular website who navigate away from the site after viewing only one page.

Simple enough…right? So, how do we decrease the chances that someone will bounce off our website after seeing just a single page? How do we keep them and have them dive deeper?

Easy to Follow Design

I’m sure you’ve experienced a time when you’ve been surfing the internet trying to find that one specific answer that you’re looking for. You enter a website and it’s generic looking and hard to follow. How often do you just click the backspace and go back to your Google search because it just wasn’t worth the effort? Well, you just contributed to that website’s high bounce rate.

You can easily prevent bounce rate increase due to this issue by having a design that has easy to follow cues for your visitors. A clean and simplistic menu is a great place to start. Many websites have overly complicated navigations that confuse and, eventually, turn your visitors off.

Another way to reduce bounce rate is to have a striking design for your website. This is usually best achieved when hiring a professional design firm that understands industry standards and who have the success of your business at heart. This will help you avoid looking like just another cookie-cutter site that feels generic.

Calls to action used throughout your website will also help to guide your visitors to dive deeper into your website by appealing to their needs and fulfilling the purpose of your website.

Focus on Your Purpose

Every website has a focus. Why does it exist? Typically to achieve something very specific. Most real estate agents create their website to get leads, but the actual website typically has a purpose of buying or selling homes. So, what would be the most important thing to point visitors into the direction of? Property Search! Another quick example would be for a pizza restaurant to focus on ordering pizza.

If your website has a purpose, you’re more likely to attract the right audience, which leads into the next talk point.

Know Your Audience

Your audience and your purpose go hand in hand. Part of your purpose is the kind of person that your website is trying to attract in order to fulfill its purpose.

A great example of this would be the comparison of two different types of demographics. Take, for instance, millennials versus senior citizens. These two groups use the internet and gather information very differently. Millennials are more likely to want social networks to be tied in, you could market your website on snap chat, or utilize large amounts of live feeds or videos. Senior Citizens may prefer the option to be able to print more documents to save for later or want to be able to contact you by phone, so your contact information should be very visible. Having your audience in mind helps you market and maintain yourself best.

If you can achieve these simple points with your website, you’re bound to see a drastic decrease in the bounce rate of your website. Bounce rate is one of those most important numbers tracked with your Google Analytics account and can definitely, in turn, affect your Google search rankings.

 

Small business website design

Posted on by Ken Granger

Elements of small business website design

Small business website design can have a huge impact when done right, and can be costly when done wrong. Companies that focus on modern web design elements regularly outrank competitors and more easily attract clients. This is because every element on a website should be purposeful and easy to understand. Viewing or analyzing a website is generally a qualitative process, rather than a quantitative one. Let’s look at the elements that make up a modern small business website.

Responsive design

Here is the thing – you need your website to be accessible across all devices and platforms, from a smartphone to traditional PCs. Realistically, only a responsive design can help you do that. Responsive design means the website will scale to any device in real time. This element makes your website far more accessible- and with more people using smartphones to access websites than PCs, it just makes sense.

White space

There’s so much to be said for intelligently used white space in web design. Of course, when we say “white space”, we don’t actually mean it has to be the color white. We mean space that is void of anything: data, images, graphics, text… seriously, anything. White space is a critical component to a well-designed page, because, it helps your users focus in on what’s relevant. When you use white space correctly, users will be directed to your products or services in a manner that feels natural.

Clean lines

Clean lines help to maintain order on a site. Good web design let’s the lines carry the flow of information over the span of your page. When used in conjunction with proper white space, the result is a site that’s astonishingly easy to navigate and use. A good rule of thumb to use when evaluating ease-of-use for your site is to run it past someone who isn’t tech savvy. If they can get around, anyone can.

Consistent fonts and colors

It is easy to get carried away with different web fonts and different color schemes. Don’t be afraid to put your foot down to ensure your site stays consistent. Any publication, either online, or in print, can suffer from fonts and colors that keep changing. Pick a style, and really whittle it down to the essentials, and have the courage to stick with it.

Invest in great imagery

Spice up your website with rich media, including great pictures and professional videos. Ensure that you do not overload web pages with images and videos – web pages still need to load quickly. When used correctly, imagery should compliment your website’s design and help establish the point of the page.

Limit Distractions

If you’re already making good use of white space and clean lines, limiting distractions should come easily. Have a call to action at the end of a section and make sure it fits naturally. A good web design can guide users eyes to where you want them to be. This will allow your users to focus on what they’re really looking for, and what really matters to them.

If you’re working with static content, take the time to make the best choices and don’t be afraid to change things as you go along. Invest time in making the right small business website design, and don’t forget the basics.

Getting started with online advertising

Posted on by Ken Granger

With buyers and sellers turning to the internet first, generating online leads has become more important today than ever before. That is why online advertising, also known as Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC), has become a popular choice for businesses looking to attract highly targeted leads.

Whether a company is a small startup, or fortune 500 company, PPC advertising is accessible to businesses of any size. PPC advertising works just as it sounds; when a visitor clicks on an online ad, the business pays for that click. The real power of this type of advertising comes from how highly targeted ads can be. Working with an agency, a business can target an audience during a specific time of day, day of the week, certain income bracket, and geographical area, amongst many other targeting parameters.

Two companies that offer businesses the most reach are Google and Facebook. Each have their own online advertising options, with particular advantages and disadvantages.

Google AdWords

Google offers advertisers placement of their ads on the search engine’s search results. When a searcher types in keywords related to the advertiser’s ad, Google shows the advertiser’s ad. For instance, a searcher might be looking for a real estate agent to sell their home and may use a keyword such as “realtors”. This would trigger an ad by all the real estate agents who are advertising in that area. Google has an advantage in reaching people who have a high intent to purchase. This also means the cost per click for most keywords will be higher than other online advertising options.

Facebook Ads

Companies can use Facebook’s advertising platform to target potential clients as they browse their news feeds. Facebook offers different advertising options depending on the audience and campaign goals. One advantage Facebook offers over other online advertising options is access to greater targeting parameters. This means advertisers can target based on things like income level, topics liked, or the industry their audience works in.

Retargeting

Retargeting PPC advertising serves ads to web visitors after they have left a business’ site. While ads draw visitors to a website, they do not guarantee sales. Retargeting ads remind people about products and services they previously saw on a business’ website. They only target visitors who expressed interest in those products or services.

Optimizing

Creating better lead generation forms is a simple way to help optimize conversions from PPC advertising. Optimized forms help collect all the necessary information about a visitor, allowing visitors to become customers.

Pay per click advertising provides an excellent return on investment when optimized properly. Working with an agency can help businesses achieve stellar results in their PPC advertising.

 

Getting Started

Want to take the trial and error out of PPC advertising? BrandCo can help you optimize your campaign and drive more leads. Fill out the form below to get started:


Providing a great customer experience

Posted on by Ken Granger

Focusing on a great experience can have a profound impact on your business. It doesn’t come easy, but offering a great customer experience begins with putting the customer first. In this post, we look at some of the things you can do to provide your customers a great experience.

Always Be Respectful

Providing excellent customer service often means dealing with customer emotions. That’s why it’s important to ensure that all employees deal with customers courteously and with the utmost respect. In customer service, the general rule is that the customer is always right – even if they are wrong. Correcting a customer politely and calmly is always the best approach. It is extremely important that employees do not let their own emotions affect their interaction with clients. The goal is to see a customer walk away completely satisfied.

Be Responsive

The worst experience a customer can have is an interaction with a non-responsive employee. Customers dealing with an issue, trying to get help or searching for an answer must be met with an employee that responds quickly and appropriately. Sometimes, employees do not have the answer or cannot help the customer with a particular issue. In these cases, it’s best for the employee to immediately indicate they will look into the issue. A sympathetic response is always better than no response, which may leave the customer feeling ignored.

Train Staff Properly

Your employees are usually the first people that interact with customers. For this reason, it’s vital that all staff members are trained to provide excellent customer service. Employees must understand how to talk with customers, offering guidance and help while working to solve any problems or questions the customer has. Proper training empowers employees with the skills and tools they will need to provide a great customer experience.

Listen to Customers

Employees are usually busy completing tasks and may not always listen to customers. Listening is an easy and vital part of providing great service to customers. It is important for employees to be fully present and attentive when interacting with customers. Listening to a customer means hearing everything that a customer speaks out loud, however, it also means watching for non-verbal communications, such as posture and facial expressions.

Get Customer Feedback

Understanding customers’ opinions, thoughts, feelings, preferences and needs is one of the best ways a business can improve when seeking to offer a great customer experience. Setting up a place for feedback on a company website is a good way to generate information from customers. This allows them to rate and discuss their thoughts and opinions on the products and services offered and their impression of the business as a whole. Surveys and questionnaires are also good options for generating customer feedback. It is also great to ask customers for feedback face-to-face as when possible.

Make Use of the Feedback

Collecting feedback from customers is a great first step. The next step, is for the business to utilize that feedback. Management should regularly review customer feedback and adjust products and services accordingly to offer customers the best possible experience. Making these changes will also let customers know that their thoughts and opinions have been heard. Knowing that what they say matters to a business will undoubtedly build up a business’ repeat customer pool and draw in more customers.

Excellent customer service impacts not only current or regular customers. Surveys conducted recently indicate that nearly 70% of customers react to a bad experience by sharing it on a social network. The present age of technology means that customer reactions to experiences with a business – specifically bad experiences – can spread to thousands of potential customers.

How branding colors influence purchasing decision

Posted on by Ken Granger

The use of colors in branding can have a profound impact on a client’s purchasing behavior. Some studies have show that people’s judgment about a product or service can be 60%-90% influenced by color alone. Colors can elicit different emotions and reactions, as well as a memorable impression. Whether you are painting your offices, designing your marketing materials, or creating a logo, here is what you need to know before choosing a color. 

Blue

Blue is a widely used color in logo design. It stands for being dependable, trustworthy, and fiscally responsible. Big brands like Facebook, AT&T as well as Walmart, all use blue. This color is also used by most police stations, to build trust with the public. Several industries use this color hue including finance, lifestyle, and tech spaces. When used by brands, consumers generally feel safe and in responsible hands. It’s no surprise that tech companies like Facebook and Twitter have chosen blue as their brand color. 

Yellow

Yellow is a very optimistic color. Since it is generally perceived as being bright, it has the ability to grab a consumer’s attention even from afar. That’s why McDonalds and Denny’s have used yellow in the design of their logos in a bid to attract hungry travelers. Yellow can also invoke feelings of happiness or excitement.

Orange

Orange is considered a friendly color. It is used by numerous brands including Nike, Nickelodeon, as well as Hermes. Bright bold orange is mainly used by stores to promote value such as Payless and Home Depot, which communicate affordability. According to branding experts, a subtle shade of orange represents an appeal to the upscale market.

Purple

If you want to portray your brand as imaginative, creative, or wise, then purple is the way to go. It can also be used as an emotional or soothing color. This is the reason why Hallmark used it when creating their primary logo, as well as branding their more than 40,000 stores worldwide.

Red

Red is used by some of the biggest brands in the world. Companies such as Coca Cola and Keller Williams use red as their primary color. It expresses passion and excitement. Red is usually used in combination with softer colors like yellow or white to add a sense of excitement. Tech companies like Netflix and YouTube, pair red with black to signal a modern-bold feel.

White

When white is used in marketing materials or logo design, it can convey a sense of transparency. White can also convey quiet and pure. Company’s such as Apple use white in their products to communicate a sense of simple and pure design.

Black

Black is often used in luxury marketing material and branding. That is why it is the preferred option for stretch limousines and glamorous evening wear. If you want to convey sophistication, drama, and a sense of status, then this is the color for the occasion. The primary brand color of Uber is black.

Everyone’s perception and preferences differ, making color selection more of an art than a science. Shades, hues and tints can also play into perceptions as well. So before finalizing your brand colors, make sure to do a bit of research and testing. The right colors can create a huge impact in the way potential clients perceive your brand.