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Guest post by: Teresa Bohannon Become an Author

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Many successful companies do not even have a professionally designed logo for their company. Often their logo is nothing more than the name of their business in basic lettering on a brick and mortar storefront, or catalog. The same is true for many owners of virtual businesses-a logo, especially when just starting out, is often just their name in a fancy or colorful font across the top of the site. This is usually because a professionally designed logo is often considered an unnecessary expense in the beginning when money is tight. Then later when the business is off to a successful start-the, "If it ain't broke don't fix it!" school of thought kicks in and business owners tend to stick with what apparently works. This too is not necessarily true. If you can afford it, and your brand is well established then a professionally designed logo is absolutely a justifiable expense. Why? Because it can be trademarked or service marked...and it transcends mere language! Which means that only your company can legally use it, and anyone, anywhere in the world can tell at a glance that they are shopping at the right place-that yours is the 100% genuine article that they thought they were buying-no substitutions allowed!

Of course, this does not necessarily mean that your logo has to be some fancy or elaborate affair. A logo may still only be a creative or stylized way of writing your company name using bold or italic lettering, a special font, or different colors, or it may even just be a simple picture, or artistic symbol. Think of McDonald's golden arches. It does not matter where in the world you are or what language you speak, if you see those golden arches you know you are going to get a world famous, inexpensively priced, good quality, fast food meal.

Again a logo can be as simple as a stylized version of just one letter or it may even be your entire name, or just an image. Developing a logo may be something you put off until the end of your branding process if you are not sure what you would like it to look like. However, when you design your logo

there are many things to consider--colors, font, overall impression, memorability, and uniqueness.

Colors are extremely important. Make them too bright and they are probably going to come across as just plain annoying. On the other hand too staid can come across as boring. The important thing to remember is to keep your color choices consistent with the perception that you want to create for your business, and with the audience you want to please.

A logo should be short, sweet and easy to absorb in a single glance. Simple and easy to remember is best for both initial impact and long-term memorability.

It is important to search competitor sites and verify that there are no other companies with the same name as yours with a logo that is similar. A good place to start is the United States Patent and Trademark office. Spending a few hours there will help you to make sure that you never accidentally copy a logo that is overly similar to one belonging to another company. If you do not live in the United States be sure to check the resources posted by your own country.

Does a Logo Really Help You Sell? No. The world's greatest and most memorable logo means nothing if it represents a poorly designed, badly serviced or otherwise low-quality product. Think of your logo as a road sign. If it just leads down a bad road...it just reminds people not to go that way.

On the other hand a good logos does provide a positive impact for a business with a good product or service to promote. A company with a logo versus a company that does not have a logo looks more professional and comes across as a more credible place to shop from. This is because a professional logo creates an image. For example, employees wearing plain blue shirts in a store do not look as professional as employees with the same plain blue shirt on and a company logo stamped on the top left chest area of the shirt.

In the end, logos are simply a small part of an overall image. Your goal in branding is to create an image that has an emotional impact when the customers. In other words when they see your logo you want them to feel warm, fuzzy, safe and secure because it represents someone or something they trust!

If you want to learn more about understand and using basic do-it-yourself techniques for successfully branding your business please see the other articles in this series.

Virtually Branding Your Business Techniques For Do It Yourself Online Success

Step By Step Techniques For Successfully Branding Your Business Understanding Your Audience

Basic Branding Techniques For Do It Yourself Online Success

Smiles and Good Fortune,

Teresa Thomas Bohannon

********************

It is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one's dignity, to work unhampered, to be generous, frank and independent. - W. Somerset Maugham (1874 - 1965) Of Human Bondage, 1915

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