Your brand resides in your customer's mind as a result of all the impressions made by encounters with your name, your logo, your marketing messages, and everything else that people see and hear about your business.

Something as basic as your business address contributes to how your brand is perceived. For that matter, every time someone walks into your business and looks around, visits your Web site, meets an employee, or glances at your ad, that person forms an impression that leads to a mind-set about your business.

You can be the most powerful brand in your target market. All it takes is:

• Knowing the brand image that you want to project
  
• Having commitment and discipline to project your brand well
  
• Spending what's necessary to get your message to your target market
  
• Managing your marketing so that it makes a consistent impression that etches your desired brand image into the mind of your target prospect

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Consistency builds brands. When your marketing communications create a single impression for your business, they build a strong brand. Stay consistent in your marketing by

• Projecting a consistent look.
  
• Projecting a consistent tone in your communications.
  
• Projecting a consistent level of quality, demonstrated by consistent communications, consistent products, and consistent services.
  
• Stick with your brand. Don't try to change your brand image unless you're certain that it's no longer appropriate for the market.

With a well-managed brand, your company hardly needs to introduce itself. Within your target market, people will already know your business, its personality, and the promise you make to customers — all based on what they've seen and heard through your marketing communications.

An essential online ingredient. Without a brand, you have to build the case for your business before every sale. Doing that is tough work in person and even tougher work online, where you can't be there to make introductions, inspire confidence, counter resistance, or break down barriers.

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People are buying everything online — from contact lenses to cars — without the benefit of demonstrations or test-drives. Why? Because customers arrive at e-businesses with confidence in the brands they are buying. If they don't see a brand they know, the odds of the online purchase occurring plummet. But if they see a brand they know and like, then they'll check the price and terms, make their selection, and purchase the product.

Six Steps To Brand Management

Good brand management follows certain steps.

1. 	Creating a consistent IMAGE BRAND is one of the most important choices a business can choose to further their success. A well-managed brand creates a strong emotional connection, and a strong emotional connection fosters loyal customer behavior.
   	Some important things to remember when considering your brand are: Knowing the image you want to project Commit to your project brand Reach your target market with a strategic budget Be consistent in all your advertisement

   Define why you're in business. What does your business do? How do you do it better than anyone else? Put into writing the reason that your business exists and the positive change you aim to achieve.
   
   
2. It's all in the name. Consider what you want people to think when they hear your name. What do you want current and prospective employees to think about your business? What do you want prospects, customers, suppliers, associates, competitors, and friends to think?
   
   You can't be different things to each of these different groups and still have a well-managed brand. The brand image held by each of these groups has to synch into one identity — one brand — that people will trust and believe.
   
   
3. Words are important. Think about the words you want people to use when defining your business. Ask your employees, associates, and customers this question: When people hear our name, what images do you think come into their minds?
   
   If everyone is saying the same thing — and if those words are the words you want associated with your name — you have a well-managed brand. If gaps occur, you have your brand-management work cut out for you.
   
   List words that you want people to link to your business and be certain that you live up to that desired image. Then lead people to the right conclusions by presenting those characteristics — that brand image — consistently and repeatedly in your marketing communications.
   
   

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   Focus. Pinpoint the advantages you want people to associate with your business. Figuring out these benefits helps you land on the advantages you want to communicate in your marketing communications. It also leads to your definition of the position you want to own in the consumer's mind.
   
   
5. Define your brand. Look at your business through a customer's or prospect's eyes as you define your brand. What do people say — and think — about your business? Why do they choose your business and prefer to buy from you again and again? How would they define your brand?
   
   Boil your findings down to one concept — one brand definition — that you honestly believe you can own in the minds of those who deal with your business.
   
   
6. Build it and they will come. Build your brand through every impression that you make. Clarity and consistency are key to getting it right -- each and every time!

A well-managed brand creates a strong emotional connection, and a strong emotional connection fosters loyal customer behavior. Protect and project your brand through every representation of your business in the marketplace.

A successful reciprocal link campaign involves targeted research; a direct, courteous approach; and, of course, link placement. By following the steps below you will be well on your way to success.

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There are some basic things to keep in mind when deciding on link exchanges. You should not use indiscriminate links that have no relevance to your site. These will only frustrate customers and reduce the validity of your site. Also, you should always choose links that you know are of interest to your visitors and that compliment your business by expanding the information available on your site.

So how do you find relevant links? There is a three-step process that will enable you to get maximum benefits from your reciprocal link campaign. First is the research phase where you investigate sites that would be of most benefit to your visitors. The most important step in establishing effective reciprocal links, research is worth your time so you find the best sites to link with and ensure quality results for your visitors.

Begin your research by making two lists. On the first list, record the types of sites your visitors would be interested in viewing. On the second, write the types of sites that would benefit from the information on your website. Once you have completed both lists, you should find that there are common subjects on both lists. These are the types of websites you will target. Write three keywords for each of the common subjects.

	RECIPROCAL LINKING is an exchange of hyperlinks between two websites whose content is beneficial and relevant to each other.
	1) Create a list of sites, which would benefit your visitors 2) Create a list of sites, which would benefit from your site 3) Create common keywords 4) Using your major search engines, make a list of potential sites 5) Research these sites for value and validity 6) Make your final target list 7) Draft a direct, courteous email to the site owners/webmasters 8) Schedule your link exchange
	FREE WORKSHEET: Download our customized Reciprocal Link Worksheet.

The next part of your research phase involves going online and conducting searches using at least five of the major search engines (Google, Yahoo, etc.). Type in the keywords you selected for each of your common subjects and make notes of the top ten sites that appear. Remember, sites that come up on all three of your keywords should be at the top of your list.

Now, do a quick site search for these top sites. Spend about a minute or two looking through the site and making sure that the site is relevant enough to come back to later. When you are finished you should have a list of 15 – 20 sites. Take these sites and research them in greater depth. You need to make sure that there aren’t any surprises in the site that would offend your visitors or even take business away from you. It is also important to verify that your site would be of benefit to them. Make notes of why your site would be of benefit. You’ll need these notes in the next step. Once this is done, make your final list of sites.

Next, you should approach each of the sites from your list via e-mail and ask them about exchanging links with you. Your approach is very important. With all of the spam today, you need to get straight to the point. In a brief, courteous e-mail include: your interest in the site, the reason for your interest, and incentive for them to visit your site. Explain specific features of their site that visitors to your site would find useful, and vice versa. It is important to explain how your site will benefit them and visitors to their site. Also, include a hyperlink in your e-mail that goes directly to the areas of your site you mention.

Send this e-mail to the sites from your final list. If you went through all the research and send out 15 e-mails, you can probably expect a 30% – 50% positive response. This varies depending on whether the target site has a reciprocal links policy, whether your own site is professionally presented, and whether your approach was compelling enough. Still, you should feel happy to hear from 5 sites, and anything else is a bonus.

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DO NOT follow up your e-mail if you have not received a reply. This may go against instinct, but if your approach was good and your research was thorough, the target site genuinely is not interested in linking to yours. The reason doesn't matter -- just accept the fact, and move on to the next site.

Once you hear back from your requests, it is time to schedule the actual link exchange. Since you made the request, you have to place their link on your site first. This is a good time to contact your webmaster and give them the information you have received.

Make sure that your webmaster is clear on the type and location of the link. Once the link is placed, it is time to contact your target site and inform them that their link has been placed. Provide an exact URL of the location of the link. If you don’t hear back from them immediately, then check with them again in about a week. Again, it is important to be courteous. You initiated the request and need to work within their schedule.

Effective reciprocal linking does take time, but is worth every minute. It is essential to develop a steady program of exchanging links with relevant sites in order to boost your visitor count and add extra resources to your own site.

Finally, don’t be afraid to reach for the big sites on the web. Contact the very large established web companies if they are relevant to your site and you have content of interest to them. You might be surprised at their willingness to exchange links.