Business Image: How To Improve It And Make More Money!

Whether your customers and clients perceive you as a mom or pop business, or a globally competitive company can mean the difference between just scraping by and making a killing. Your corporate image can go a long way toward looking like a big business operating in a major city, rather than a family operation working from the kitchen table.

What are the major factors that determine how you appear to the world?

1) Your business' name. You don't want to look like a micro-business. For instance "Tracey's Gift Baskets" indicates that you are a sole proprietor, probably located in a small store or selling at craft fairs. Also, you don't want to have a slang or "insider's" business name. Think about how somebody in Australia or Japan will read your name. If it won't make sense to them, you can easily lose their business.

2) A logo that visibly establishes your identity. You want a distinctive - but not outrageous logo. You can find logo designers online who will produce a logo for less than $200. Just give them your concept and the kind of image you want your company to project, or the kind of message you want your logo to convey. It will be money well spent to have a profesional, well thought out logo.

3) Your company's business card. It is still a very important marketing tool, and it broadcasts a distinct image of your company. If you think that our digital world has dulled that perception, consider your own reaction next time you are handed a business card. Very quickly, you make a judgement about the company based on that one piece of paper. Do you want others to make a inaccurate judgement about you because you didn't take the time to create a nice business card?

4) Your address. There are some cities that are established as centers of global commerce. For instance, Los Angeles is associated with the entertainment industry, Seattle is a high tech center, and New York has a strong finance, publishing, and fashion base. If you are operating out of a smaller city or rural area, you should consider acquiring an address in a city that aligns with your business' focus.

Fortunately, that is not that difficult to do anymore, and there are alternatives to save you the huge expensive of actually locating yourself in a big city. There are virtual offices, mail forwarding services, and Internet-powered mail services that allow you to get your mail in a major city and have it sent to you wherever you are.

Your corporate identity needs to show that you are a major player in the global marketplace - even if you are just getting started.

I am sure you have heard the expression, "Location, Location, Location." And, if you want to look like a big enterprise, there's nothing like having a location in the capital of the world's commerce - New York City. Your New York location will set you apart from your competitors, even if you run a home based business from a tiny town in the middle of Kansas.

New York is the home of the New York Stock Exchange. It is the location of choice for the Fortune 500 companies. More than $1 Trillion in transactions occur there every day. That's why having a New York business address can be a major advantage to your business enterprise.

Fortunately, it is easier than ever to get your mail delivered to New York City. You can even access it online. You have your mail delivered to a New York address run by an Internet-powered mail company. They scan the envelopes into a virtual mailbox that only you can access.

After that, you decide what to do with each individual piece of mail. You can have the company scan it into a PDF document so you can view it online, forward it to you unopened, or shred and recycle it. If you choose to have it made into a PDF document, you will have access to it forever.

Not to worrry, your documents are secure. All mail is opened in direct view of security cameras and no recording devices (including pens and pencils) are allowed in the mail processing room. The security processes were developed by former FBI and United States Postal Service professionals and fraud consultants.

If this doesn't suit you, there are other options for New York City addresses including mail forwarding services and virtual offices.

Traditional mail forwarding services will ship your mail to you on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. There is a base fee plus a postage and handling fee for each package. The down side to this option is that you have no control over what mail gets forwarded and will often pay extra for junk mail and other documents you don't want.

Another option is a virtual office. With these, you have to pick up your mail in person. Other services such as voice mail and conference room time are often bundled into the price which you don't need driving up the cost of the service.

If location is important to you in terms of a business address, and total control over what happens to each individual piece of mail - you can't go wrong with an Internet-powered mail service. With packages starting from $19.95 a month, this is a great option.

We don't all want or need to live in a major American city. However, if you have a business endeavor, it often makes you appear to be a bigger player if you have a business address in New York, San Francisco, or Los Angeles. Previously, some of the solutions people have used have included hiring a mail forwarding service or contracting with a virtual office. But, there are downsides to both of these options.

With a mail forwarding service, you pay a service fee for daily, weekly or monthly services and then pay for postage and handling for each shipment of mail. All of your mail is shipped to you with no regard to whether you actually need it (obviously including junk and unsolicited mail), which can increase the postage costs significantly.

Virtual offices are often quite expensive. Some function much like a mail forwarding service. Others require that you come into the office to pick up your mail personally, which is inconvenient for some and impossible for those who do not live anywhere near the city. They also tend to bundle a number of services including voice mail and conference room time into their basic packages. This increases the price while not giving you any additional value for your money.

So, what is the solution? One possible solution has been presented by a new model called Internet-powered mail. With this, you get an address in a major US city. Once you set up your address, the company will scan each envelope you receive into a virtual mailbox set up just for you. You then look at the envelope and determine what you want done with it.

One of the options is to have the security-vetted staff there open it and scan it in to a PDF document so that you can access it immediately online. The second option is to have the mail sent to you unopened. Yet another option is to combine the services and have the document scanned and then forwarded to you. If the mail is something you don't want - junk mail, for instance - you can just have it shredded and recycled.

A great advantage that Internet-powered mail offers small businesses is that you can have addresses in multiple cities. For instance, your small business operating out of Killeen, Texas, can have addresses in New York City and Los Angeles. You'll have the appearance of a company that is much larger than it actually is. This can give you a great advantage when pursuing certain lucrative business deals.

Logos need to be great, but they don't need to be expensive. They are the forefront representation of your company. They become a memorable and recognizable object for your customers - if they are properly done.

Many companies spend thousands developing a logo, but you don't need to. In a special guide to polishing and improving your company image, I show you exactly how to develop a concept for your logo. By the time you get a graphic designer to draw it, total cost is under $200.

Mail.... There is so much of it, and sometimes you feel you are always one step ahead of it. Many businesspeople find that their mail is chasing them as they travel around the country. There is a very practical solution for this situation.

There is a highly reputable and efficient company that scans your mail into an online mail box which only you can access. You can then read the mail right from your computer. If you need the original of any document, you can have the company forward it to you. If you don't want the mail, they will shred it. They also have high security (cameras, etc), so you know everything is kept confidential.

Another great advantage of this service is that you have a permanent address no
matter where in the world you move. You'll never have to fill out a change of address card again.

A majority of the high tech business goes on in the "silicon valley" in and around Los Angeles and San Francisco. If you are a software developer, high tech recruiter, hardware salesperson, or in some way involved with the computer industry, having an address in these areas can give you a "step up" on a company that is not, and will help you with the companies with which you want to do business.

In reality, you do not need to have a physical presence in these areas. So much business these days in conducted over the Internet and by phone. However, which letter is more likely to be noticed and opened by a Microsoft employee: the one from Los Angeles or the one from Cleveland?

You have numerous options for an address in LA or San Francisco. You can sign up for a mail forwarding service, get a virtual office, or register for an online mail processing service. This article will look at the benefits and drawbacks of each.

A mail forwarding service gives you a physical address in the city of your choice. They bundle your mail and send it to you on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. You pay for postage and handling in addition to a monthly service fee. Unfortunately, this also means that you are paying bulk mail charges for each and every piece of mail (including junk mail advertisements) and not just the important documents.

A virtual office also gives you a physical address in the city you desire. Some offices will forward your mail while others require that you pick it up yourself during specific office hours. One of the drawbacks of many virtual offices is that they often bundle other services such as voice mail and access to conference rooms into their fees. This can cost you $300 or more when all you need is an address.

If you just need an address, the best solution may be the Internet-powered mail option. These companies give you an address in major cities across the country (including Los Angeles and San Francisco). Every envelope you received is scanned and placed in your online mail box. You can look at the envelopes and determine what to do with each individual piece of mail.

Your options are; having the mail scanned into a PDF document, having the entire envelope or package sent to you unopened, or shredding the mail.

If you decide to have your mail scanned into a PDF document, you have access to it from anywhere in the world. You can keep the mail in your mailbox indefinitely or you can have the documents sent to you so you can have them physically. With Internet-powered mail, you don't have to worry about paying for junk mail to be delivered to you. You make the decisions about which pieces of mail to have forwarded.

If you take away just one thing it should be that anyone can improve their business with a few changes. (They don't have to be huge changes).