Today, I want you to do a brand check on your business. Do your ads reflect the same look, feel and voice? Is the tone of all your communications pieces the same – is it in one voice? If your answer is "no", you might find the cover story useful in fixing your brand's inconsistencies. Don't waste thousands of dollars and lose potential customers every day as a result of poor branding.

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Brand Check

Consumers are exposed to over 3,000 marketing messages a day. TV spots, radio ads, billboards, logos on t-shirts, packaging labels, coupons in the mail, pop up ads on the internet, kids selling cookies at the door – they are everywhere.

And yet you think the consumers you want to talk to are going to filter through over 3,000 messages a day – just to find yours. And because this task alone is not daunting enough, most businesses decide to make it harder by hiding their messages. If you are not consistent in ALL your marketing materials, you are wasting thousands of dollars and losing potential customers every day.

Here are some questions you should ask yourself to check your brand’s consistency.

- Are you using just one logo? Is it always in the same color?
- Are you consistent with paper stock – color, texture and weight?
- Is the tone of all your communications pieces the same – is it in one voice?

Read More | Comments | Branding

The Rapid Wine Chiller

If tailgating is your passion, but you like wine with your sports, problem solved. The Rapid Wine Chiller is both classy and convenient, and it's also the perfect way to impress your date or even your wife with your tailgating panache. The Chiller cools bottles to the desired serving temperature in minutes.

   Read More | Comments | Consumer Goods

Organic Vending

Combining three unremitting consumer trends—convenience, organics and health—YoZone by YoNaturals is a vending machine dedicated to organic products. Based in San Diego, YoNaturals offers an alternative to vending machines that are typically stocked with junk food.

   Read More | Comments | Food & Beverage

Mobile Coupons

A new service that lets you sign up to receive coupons by cellphone is generating “good” results for Virgin Megastores. The service, called Cellfire, is strictly opt-in. You can either go to cellfire.com or else text message Cellfire from your cellphone. You cash in simply by showing your cellphone screen to a cashier.

   Read More | Comments | Mobile

Super Yoga Mat

Imagine a yoga mat you unfurl from a metal tube that’s actually a stereo. It can take in memory cards or play content off an MP3 player. The real tech candy here is the mat which is made of an electronic paper screen. The idea is you can attend yoga classes from anywhere since streaming video plays right on the mat.

   Read More | Comments | Lifestyle & Luxury

Paper Work

Computers could have been the biggest tree-saving invention of all time, yet here we are, “paperless office” still just a dream and trees being cut down faster than ever. Award-winning creative architect duo Stephanie Forsythe and Todd MacAllen at molo design in Vancouver, Canada, are not discouraged by this.

   Read More | Comments | Design

Easy Party Planning

There's something to be said about Web services that been set up to help people coordinate things in the least stressful way as possible. MyPunchBowl's new checklists feature is pretty much the best addition to a party planning service yet. The idea is simple: you as party creator make a list of things you need for the party.

   Read More | Comments | Online & Social Networks

New Parenting Lifestyle

Strobe lights, the smell of stale beer, martinis and toddlers. That's the scene at Aubergine nightclub in San Diego's Gaslamp district on a Sunday afternoon. Young families line up behind a velvet rope to get into a Baby Loves Disco event, where kids can boogie to the beat and their stylish parents can have a drink or two.

   Read More | Comments | Trends & Insights

Getting The Balance

In my experience, too little work-life balance can actually put you out of business, especially if you are a solopreneur. It doesn’t mean you can’t work hard; there are times when you have to put in extra hours in a business. So how do you fit little balancing acts into a busy workday, or keep your head on straight?

   Read More | Comments | Work Life

Leveraging On Social Media

Can social media actually do anything for your company’s image or to sell your product – especially when you’re, let’s say, running a start-up with no marketing or PR budget? I was in just that position not too long along ago, and I can tell you the answer is absolutely ‘Yes.’ So how can you leverage on social media?

   Read More | Comments | Sales & Marketing

6 Mistakes Of Raising Funds

Many financing efforts fail because of avoidable mistakes that are made in pitching potential lenders, structuring the agreement or managing the money once the deal is done. Steering clear of these missteps can increase your chances of success, both in obtaining startup funds and keeping the money flowing.

   Read More | Comments | Finance & Capital

Time To Grow

Those of us that own a business know that, at some point, there will be cause for expansion. This can be both exciting and scary. There are some clear indications that it is time to expand your business, and being able to recognize those signs will help to eliminate some of the anxiety that accompanies such a change.

   Read More | Comments | Operations

How To Attract Clients

Here are a few simple ways to apply the Law of Attraction to get the right clients: You might ‘call’ your clients in innovative ways. Instead of reaching out to your customers and clients in traditional forms—e-mail, voice messages, or even IM—think of ways you can make an appearance in their daily life instead.

   Read More | Comments | How-To Guides

Business Crystal Ball

If only you had a crystal ball for business. Gilbert Systems seeks to provide just that -- with a new product that helps business owners anticipate their customers' spending habits in order to maximize sales. Proclivity is a consumer predictive engine technology that is able to analyze a customer's online activity.

   Read More | Comments | Recommendations

Top Five Aspects For E-commerce

E-commerce web site design is nothing different than a traditional web design, but requires a few more extra functionalities and components to handle financial transactions. Study some of the these aspects of e-commerce site development before you start your own online e-commerce store.

   Read More | Comments | Online Business

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