“I really appreciate your help with all of my recent projects. I really feel you nailed all of my marketing pieces with beautifully designed photos, layout and content. You are a pleasure to work with and I look forward to many more projects with you. Many thanks for all of your help!”

As we are approaching the end of 2010, I wanted to publish this post so it reminds us of what food trends we had this year. This study was conducted by The Food Channel®.  The list is based on research conducted by The Food Channel in conjunction with CultureWaves® and the International Food Futurists®.  Here’s what 2010 was all about when it comes to food trends.

Publicity is extremely important in building a brand awareness. It is important  to have a product or service that is different from your competition. Your brand is much stronger when others talk about it. Your job as a business owner is to make sure that they are always saying the right thing. So what are you doing differently then others? Your comments are welcome and appreciated.

I am thankful for meeting so many wonderful people that have been supporting six26studio from the beginning. I can’t thank all of you enough for the support, but most importantly I am thankful for all of the clients that have chosen to put their trust in me to develop their marketing and branding solutions.

If you have an established brand and you are doing great, business is booming, clients trust you and now you got this great idea to expend your services into something different. It is not a good idea to continue that service under the same brand. When people have in their minds who you are and what you stand for; it will be very hard to persuade them into something different.  To go back to Starbucks again; when they tried to promote Cafe Sturbucks that was featuring chicken potpie – it didn’t get them anywhere. So, stick to your specialty and believes and if you want to expend your idea then start another company with different name. Of course after doing all of the research and seeing if it’s viable for the market.

Do you have a narrow focus for your company? Do people associate you with a specific service? If you are well branded it might be easier for you to sell your product because branding helps you encourage loyalty and sense of quality. Customers love brands that are associated with certain product. For example: Starbucks is a coffee shop that is known for selling coffee.  Why do you think that is? The owner Howard Schultz took the opportunity to invested his money into educating public of his brand as a leading coffee shop specializing in coffee.  When it comes to branding it is always better to be a specialist rather then generalist.  Do you think to agree or disagree?

It is with great pleasure that I give a testamonial for Emina of six26studio, LLC.  When I decided to work with Emina, I knew who my clients would be, but I did not have a name. After coming up with a name, I still did not have an idea for my logo. Emina was able to take only adjectives (from her questionnaire) and feelings (from our discussions) and create a logo, a business card, and a website template design that revolved around these concepts better than I could have imagined. I had worked with other graphic designers in the past on other projects and I even had more of an idea of what I wanted with those projects and it still took much longer to get the concept graphically. This logo and design was very special to me, as I will be coaching parents who have had a child pass away. Her intake questionnaire and the time she takes with you before the project combined with her great intuition, really sets Emina apart. When she has completed the logo, she gives you a complete detailed sheet for use in web, print and other media. From beginning to end, Emina was a pleasure to work with in helping me to establish a brand.

If you think that marketing is selling you are wrong. The days of selling are long gone. Marketing is building a brand in the mind of the prospect. That is why your job is to market your business and educate your target about what your company is all about. What type of marketing are you doing for your business and is it working for you? Please feel free to comment below.

Traveling world proves that you can get a lot of great ideas and bring them home. This pizza Cone concept was inspired by visiting Portugal, Brazil and Italy. Check out the fool story here. Being that the world is going in such a fast pace I think that this is something that is going to work very well in the City. What are your thought on this idea, do you think if it’s going to work?

A year ago I decided that the networking was one of the best things to do when starting your own business and that signing up with the chamber is something I must do. After much consideration I have decided to sign up for the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. I didn’t have high expectations but the goal was to be involved and go to at least 3 networking events per month.

I’ve also signed up for a Business Referral group and got accepted by BRG1 which is a great way to get your name out there and because of it I got quite few clients which otherwise I would probably never meet. I am also part of the Women Business Council and Small Business Council. Being involved with the chamber is extremely important; they start noticing you and it is so great when you say Hi to the chamber employee and they acknowledge you by your name and business name.

Few months ago I was watching a reality show on TV and was dreaming how great it would be if I could go on TV to get my name out there and to my surprise the next day I had an e-mail from the chamber in my inbox asking me if I would be interested to be a host on the Talk 1300 AM Radio. I thought it was a joke, but still confirmed and they wanted me to come and be part of the Chamber Talk that is hosted every Monday at 11 am. I was delighted and of course agreed to do it. Here is the podcast for you to listen and find out a little bit about me. Enjoy and feel free to leave comments or if you have any questions.