Is Your Name Your Brand?

What's In A Name? Is Your Name Your Brand?

My maiden name spurred jokes that were less than desirable until I married a guy named Hoover. Then the jokes about "suc*" became the norm. So the new name took me from one bad joke to another. Ugh.

When I married a second time, Hoover was swapped for Brown. AT LAST! A name that did not spur obscene jokes! Boy oh Boy, a happier person could not be found. It's a name I kept even after the twelve year marriage ended. "Brown"," aside from being a much better personal name has become my professional "branded" name and has stood me in good stead since 1978.

Because I made the transition long before a professional name meant that much for brand recognition, I've never had to worry about the name itself. At least not for a very, very long time. Being branded under "Brown" came naturally. Why would anyone want to make note of this?

It's about branding and what that means. So, as an example let's look at Coke. It's not unusual for company leaders and brand marketers to forget that their brand has such a tremendous impact on a large population. For our example let's remember the "new Coke" that was introduced in 1985. Although Coca-Cola invested $4,000,000 in market testing, the launch of their new product created a public outcry. In less than three months Coca-Cola re-introduced the original formula. What made the difference? Why did they change back? What happened that made the introduction of the new formula such a resounding failure? Coca-Cola focused on the introduction of the new product formula rather than the loyalty of their own brand.

When I changed names from Hoover to Brown, I had no idea that Brown would become a company name. When people think of "Hoover," it's a natural progression to "vacuum cleaners." Perhaps it's the luck of the draw for some of us that we have the business names we do. Nowadays, I have to compete with UPS and their "what can brown do for you?" campaign. This, however is not equal on a scale that equates with the name Hoover. Thank goodness!

So, when you think of your company (or companies) names, how did you make the final decision that helped you settle on a name you could brand? Or was that even a consideration for you? Got a story? Let's hear it!

EB :D

Update for Mother Company - BEK, Brown Enterprises of KS

Hey Folks.

I don't think I've written much about my companies or even about the big bad Mother of them all. I don't intend (and never have intended) to turn any of my blogs into a place just for advertising my websites, the websites of my friends/associates but this will be more discussion of design and content anyhowsen, so bear with me.

Having a lot of clients is a blessing. Gotta love that part. But it has been a bad thing in that we've had precious little time around here to work much on our own websites. Some are woefully old and uh, they look it. Some have a brave new face with not much to back them up. So, I finally started taking every spare minute to design a new site for BEKansas.com (BEK, Brown Enterprises of KS) our Mother of all Mothers when it comes to websites. I did not want something slick and new looking. I wanted something that was reminiscent of older sites. Lots of newer sites are pretty slick but I wasn't looking for slick. I was looking for traditional. I hope I made that mark.

One thing I also wanted to do was give a lot of credit to the place I live. Wichita is a great town and likewise, my little part of that metro area, Derby, KS. So collecting photos, landmark areas, museum items of interest, has been a lot of what we've been doing around here. Trying to give our towns a premiere place among our own self serving words. Yeah, BEKansas.com is not about trying to sell anything to anyone. It it going to turn out to be a place just to describe our business, show off our SEO abilities a little bit, and of course, some writing (web content) stuff.

Since we opted for older design concepts, it will look older than it really is. The BEK sites and the Buddy sites are new, but of course, we've been doing the work since the www made it's debut on the wider Internet. OK, enough about that. OH, one more point. If you visit that particular spot, it's still in development. Many pages have yet to be uploaded and many more are not even completed yet. If you do though, give us a holler. What do you think of the new watering hole?

Until next time - keep your skis on your feet...

Eileen :D

MIFH - What is that???

MIFH or Most Interesting Fellow Human is new term. Just made it up today!

I find these folks all the time on the internet. People who are so interesting that I am drawn to their websites time and again. I don't mean for products or writing talent or dynamic personalities. I mean the person themselves. Personal websites that become destinations to bookmark and keep track of. Places to return to, to see what that person is doing today or has been doing. You might say a blog does that but sometimes this is just not so. Some websites are so much better than a blog or ARE a blog. Anyhousen, I found a MIFH this past week and wanted to write about my feelings for some of these people, re: the MIFH's in general.

If you had the resources to travel anywhere you wanted and do whatever you wanted, how would you go about it? Would you play all day with friends? Golf, pool, polo? Or would you advance your personal knowledge base of the peoples of the world? I should reiterate that dynamic personalities are usually famous people. The people I am talking about are normal, everyday folks who are traveling the world, taking photos, meeting people of all nations on a personal level. The P. Hiltons of the world are shallow, limelight grabbers who burn money for fun. None of the folks I am talking about do anything remotly like that. They go about their quiet lives, truly living a dream most of us could not or cannot imagine.

I like to think I would be one of the MIFH folks if I had the resources. Then again, I wonder if I would be a squanderer like some of the dynamic personalities (?). If I were to dream a dream of world travel and meeting common folk, like myself I believe I could truly be happy every day of my life.

Gee, that was a funny thing to say. Because, I am a very happy person. I am happy in the thought that I know what is coming each day, keep a managable schedule; love my family and friends; love my work. I don't find that anything is missing in my life but find that I, I guess the word is admire people who spend the time (and money) getting to know the peoples, nations and religions of the world.

What a wonderful thing to aspire to. I guess it gives me something to dream about. At least for today. The MIFH's of this world should be the ones in the news and interviews and as noteworthy human beans (not a typo) but maybe that is not what they want or what they aspire too. Interesting, don't you think?

Blessings.

SEO Copywriting for the Big Bucks.

Hello Folks.

Been Blogging everywhere else, but not here. Figures.

Copywriting in general - those long pages about one product, self-help, millionaire or "lose all your weight and be invisible" web pages are in the past (for me) and have been for sometime. Looking at the copywriting blog I have set up (elsewhere) I do wonder why I bother calling it copywriting anymore as I write web site content more than anything else these days.

And to give it a name - SEO copywriting has also been the focus for a very long time. The problem with that is SEO service providers - at least half of them - are just big fat scammers. I look at a web site, analyze the stats, look over the tags and code, check the target market and do all the right things. Without going into a huge explanation here - I am starting to feel like the only person around who:
#1-wears a white hat and rides a white horse.
#2-does no ppc or adwords.
#3-follows up forever with clients.
#4-works well with other webmasters.
#5-gives a fair amount of work-time to each client.
...and the list goes on.

How anyone can call themselves an SEO company who recommends ppc or adwords is just beyond me. I suppose it is all in what your individual business ethics are - and it is business to the tune of Big Bucks for some companies. It's all about target markets, niche target markets and who can afford how much.

Research and study should be the focus for SEO service companies and not "how big is your web marketing budget?"

This should not be looked upon as a rant, but rather a warning and advice entry. Look local for SEO services so you can come face to face with the people you are doing business with or at least know where the offices are in your area. Otherwise you might be asking for trouble and an empty bank account.

Verb.

:)

Do you know how to blog?

Verb on Blogging.

Active is the word to describe what a blog should be. "Active" as in "moving along". Blog when you have something to say and even when you don't.

I don't know how to blog, so don't ask. If blogging were a real talent, I would not know how to describe blogging to anyone as I am still a novice myself and wonder why anyone reads blogs. Well, I read them when they are interesting, informative and uh, funny.

I don't have a problem with a blank page, I can fill up a blank page (or screen) pretty quickly. But would anyone want to read it? Probably not. And, guess what? No one does. My blogs are various and wide spread. I post in at least one blog a day and to my knowledge, almost none have been read. So, why would I continue to blog? To clear my mind? To haphazardly spew out words and verbs to the stratosphere?

Not really. I just want to add links to my websites. Some blogging places do that quite well. So I blog.

The thing I need to learn is how to do it right. Make my ramblings count for something. If someone had read one of my blogs, just once in the last month, I would have fallen in love. No doodah man.

I suppose one of the reasons (other than the links) that I love to blog is to read my own words on the screen. How stupid is that? Pretty much:

"Stupid is as stupid does." - Forrest Gump

But, I can tell you that it is a necessary "active" part of being a copywriter. Write, write and write some more. I actually don't care that people do not read my blogs - as long as google likes them, I consider myself well read.

Verb

Cyphering on blogging..

Yo Buddy,

I have been thinking that blogging would be a good thing to do as all the newsletters, e-news, websites and yadda, yadda, yadda ALL say what a business booster blogging can be for your business. I write out my thoughts all the time in about 10 different blogs to keep my hand in on writing in general so I don't sound like a doofuss when actually sitting down to write for something meaningful. It does help sometimes.

It has helped my vocabulary some but I do still sound like a doofuss most of the time. I just type, type, type. I did figure out a couple of things so far.

My last blog entry was geared towards the website of a cyber friend. It is a web site that I particularly like and helped me know a lot about the fellow. I liked him when I started reading his pages. It also gave me the idea of doing something similar for a couple of my websites. Maybe. I don't want to steal someone else's ideas but my thoughts and his thoughts are going to come out differently when written down so I am thinking it will be OK. Plus, what I write about will be my own subject matter and not his.

I did figure out that if I put something in the text of the body on this blog that it will show up in google when you use the tags that are entered. Yeah, granted that is pretty basic information but have you looked? I had not when I set about writing this particular blog. Now, I know that I can blog about something of interest to me and other people might find it if I keep to the subject and tag it correctly. WooHoo! This is NOT new news but knowing (and not guessing) is real knowledge. I guessed it would work that way after reading it about... oh... 1,000 times. HA!

I kept telling myself I would look into it when I had time. I have never had that much time. It seems that until a thing is proven, I hold back to the bitter end. Like with the DVR. I just updated our cable TV last month to include the DVR and the DVR service. When it comes to getting into my pocketbook - I can hold onto a nickel until the buffalo poops. I am not a tightwad, just frugal. Sounds better too.

Back to blogging in general. Since I have a gob of web sites I could have created my own blog area a long time ago. I didn't and still do not want to "spend" the time involved to learn how to build and manage any blogging space on the internet. This site will do just fine and it is free.

I can save another nickel.

I wanted to blog today even if I had nothing (once again) to say - 7-7-7!
21 is my lucky number. If there is such a thing.

Until next time - keep 'ur puck moving.

EB
buddy web works

Funny Web Sites - Part 1.

I have a friend that I met on a group site. He seems like a very nice fellow and after chatting the in the group with others and posting off and on we saw that we viewed thing very much the same. I sent him my urls and he sent me his so we could look at each others websites.

I love the text and just about every single thing I have read at his site and want to post one thing from one page here. It is a hoot. This guy is a blacksmith, makes knives and swords, sells them on the internet. Cool, eh?

At his site these are the "Ye Olde Shoppe Rules"
(for a blacksmittys shop)

1. Safety First Always !!!!!

2. This shop is neither Idiot Proof or Politically correct. If you have a problem with that, perhaps you should limit your visit to the time spent reading this far.

3. Think before you act. If is sounds like a good idea, it will sound just as good 2 minutes from now. If it sounds dangerous or unsafe, it won’t get better with time.

4. It is alright to be Incredibly Stupid as long as you are the only one who knows. If you do something incredibly stupid and hurt yourself or someone else, I will tell everybody.

5. If you do something incredibly stupid and hurt me, I will notify your next of kin.

6. All metal is hot until absolutely proven otherwise. If you touch metal to see if it is hot, see #4 above.

7. Black iron is hot iron. Red iron is even hotter.

8. If you don’t know ask, if you don’t understand ask for an explanation.

9. Any tool used to handle hot iron also becomes hot. That includes the anvil after a day of hard forging.

10. Beware of the Dragon’s Breath, the almost invisible flame at the mouth of the gas forge.

11. Take the hot cut out of the anvil when you are done using it.

12. Appropriate eye protection when grinding, cutting, welding etc. is a must.

13. Wear a respirator when necessary.

14. Make a list of the things you can do without, left hand, right eye, etc. Now protect the rest.

15. Never work tired.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I loved the rules and of course, knowing nothing about blacksmithing, I had to laugh at some of them. But, I am sure he is quite serious about the rules.

It reminds me of going over to Silver Dollar City at Branson, MO about a dozen times in my life and seeing the place grow but most of all seeing all the crafters and talented people who keep things from the past alive for us today. The backsmiths, broom makers, glass blowers, candle makers and you know, just about anything you can name.

I do want to give you Woody's site url so you can go there and enjoy the many pages of useful, funny and fun text he has at his site. I agree with almost all of what he says and will continue to go there, when I have time and need a laugh.

http://hansoncustomknives.com/index.html

If you sign his guestbook - be sure to tell him "VerbatimEB" sent you. I am jockying to get some special pricing on a couple of knives and this might put a feather in my cap for that.

Later folks,

Verb
www.buddywebworks.com