Business Profits Ignite With Branding

From the BBB:

No matter the size, almost every business recognizes the need to create awareness of its products or services. But as consumers are increasingly bombarded with advertisements, messages and images, coupled with an un-certain economic forecast, it is more important than ever for businesses to differentiate themselves.

On the other side of the equation, consumers want to be able to sort through the clutter in order to find a company that is trustworthy and meets their purchasing needs.

While public relations and advertising have long been used to build awareness and ultimately increase sales, branding your product or service has now become essential. Branding can take these tried and true methods to a new level.

If you are a southern Colorado business owner, or even a consumer who just wants to learn more about branding and how it influences your decision to buy a product or service, you may want to attend an upcoming special event in Pueblo hosted by your Better Business Bureau of Southern Colorado.

Branding experts Suzanne Tulien and Carol Chapman, owners of the Brand Ascension Group, will teach an innovative, highly interactive workshop on Wednesday, March 5 in the Fortino Ballroom at Pueblo Community College. The workshop is based on their book, The 6 Myths of Small Business Branding. The event is open to the public and will run from 8:00 AM to 12:00 noon, with a 7:30 AM check-in time. Below are just a few of the secrets Suzanne and Carol will share with you at this interactive workshop:

* Learn the true difference between Branding and Marketing and how they affect your bottom line.
* Find out how customers really make buying decisions.
* Discover why the first seven seconds of contact with a customer are so crucial?
* Learn how to boost your brand’s overall customer experience without going broke?

For more details, information on cost and to make reservations, contact Zella Richardson at 719-542-1605 or zellar@bbbsc.org. You can also go to www.BrandAscension.com.

Colorado Springs Concert Schedule - The Silver Moon Event Center - New Venue

“Brand New Event Center Opens in Colorado Springs”

“THE SILVER MOON EVENT CENTER IS A BABY BOOMERS DREAM COME TRUE”
The Silver Moon will be Featuring Live Rock & Roll music that Baby Boomers grew up with. Unlike other concert venues, the Silver Moon gives people a chance to meet the band members for autographs and pictures. More importantly, The Silver Moon allows Baby Boomers to relive their High School and College years through the music these bands made famous.

Guitar Center in the Citadel Crossing is donating an autographed guitar for each concert that will be auctioned off for a local Charity later this year.

Silver Moon Event Center
117 E. Las Vegas
Colorado Springs, Colorado


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The following concert’s Tickets are on sale now at all tickets west locations or at the Silver Moon Event Center.

New Years Eve December 31st
3 live bands = “Canned Heat” – “Radio London” – “The Nostalgics”
Champaign toast and food at midnight.
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Sunday February 10th
Melvin Seals and the Jerry Garcia Band
Playing all grateful Dead music
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Friday February 22nd
Brian Howe “BAD COMPANY”
Bad Company is back Live & Loud at the Silver Moon with special guest (opening band) “Radio London”
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Saturday February 23rd
Ron Feingold, Michael Mack & Kiev
Comedy tour with music = Feingold has a new CD out.
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Saturday March 1st
Marshall Tucker Band
Along with the Inman Brothers
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Saturday March 8th
Johnny Winter with the Jake Loggins Band
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Saturday March 15th
Taj Mahal
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Monday March 31st
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown with Mick Taylor and the “Pretty Things”
Former member of the Stones
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Saturday April 12th
Head East Live at the Silver Moon

You can access The Silver Moon Concert Calendar by logging on to www.SMPLive.com. For additional information please call the
Silver Moon at 719-633-LIVE (5483)

Slapping the Hand That Feeds You

I had a conversation with a colleague from a more traditional paper today. She told me about an interview she had done with a company that provides security for schools. The company is looking to land a contract with an area school district.

She said that her editor would likely not run the story because she'd feel it was just a marketing pitch for the company. This illustrates an attitude among most print media publications that I just don't understand.

I'll focus on small regionals because that's what I'm most familiar with. Small businesses are the ones who keep the paper in existance. It's through their ad revenue that payroll is met, the rent gets paid, the electricity stays on, etc. Yet an editor would shun a story because it might be helpful to a business? I'm not going to name the paper or the editor because this attitude is actually the prevailing one among small newspaper editors. They're are loathe to do anything that might be construed as "free advertising".

In The South Side Business News, we're all about the blatant and unapologetic promotion of business, particularly the small business. IBM and Walmart get plenty of attention. We want to provide a spotlight for Fountain Valley Mechanical and The Sound Shop and the like. The fact that most papers wont do this actually provided me with my niche. We encourage area businesses to send us updates on their activities, products, employees, etc. Of course, the story still has to be interesting and they're run on a space available basis, but since we don't do community interest, politics, death, disease and mayhem, we make a lot of space available.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, this has not resulted in decreased interest in paid advertising. To the contrary. It turns out the public at large is really interested in the goings on of local shops and the people who own, run and work in them. There are hundreds of small businesses in the area and only a handful are going to have stories published in any given month. The demand for space still far exceeds the supply. The key, as always, it good content. All stories are edited as I see fit, and nobody gets to proof or approve them prior to publication.