When we advise clients on rebranding, we typically advise in either doing gradual changes to reflect the new brand or an all-out media blitz when the brand changes – if budget allows. Interesting enough, the Obama camp seems to be curiously evolving much of America’s most treasured icons into his own brand.

What’s the danger or concern in this? Image is perception. Without an image their is no perception and perception is reality. We are made to think the hope and change essence of brand Obama is somehow our only hope and future for a better America.

This is why branding is so powerful, especially when you have a multi million dollar marketing and media budget backing it.

Below is a video proving some of these observations.

If you’re in the process of starting an online business, you most likely have checked out PayPal or at least heard of it. If you’re looking to sell a few products whether they be books, CDs, to taking donations and don’t have a lot of money to invest, PayPal is a good option — but perhaps not the best option.

I frequently get questions on the differences betweeen Volusion and PayPal. Included below, I’ve listed some of the pros and cons about Volusion and PayPal that we’ve gathered ovet the past few years to help you understand the differences. To be fair, Garrison Everest has clients set up on PayPal and Volusion for their online businesses needs. The decision on which solution to choose were determined by the clients budget, type of products and the requirements of their business.

Pricing
Setup Fee: $49		Free Setup
Hosting by Rackspace for 25 products: $25		Price Included
SSL: $79/per year		Free SSL – unless you’re using a graphical header
Transactions fees: 2.17% + .27 per transaction		Transaction fees: 2.9% + .30 per transaction
No cancellation fees		No cancellation fees
Support
24/7 Free Timely Support		Customer service is non-existent. They used to hide their telephone number, (intentionally – by their own admission) and only provide support via “form” emails. Source: paypalsucks.com
Design
Custom template design or you can choose from Volusions 15+ free templates or have a customized cart designed.		Header and background color only. If you use a header graphic, you’ll need to secure the images with a an SSL, otherwise Windows browsers alerts the user of non-secure items to display. You can choose your own buttons but will need to embed the code in your website.
Customized user experience and features		N/A
Optional account signup which decreases cart abandonment		Must sign up for an account unless you have a business or premier account otherwise you will be prompted to sign up for an account
Professional and creditable		Amateur
Product delivery & admin
Manually deliver downloads directly from site in two clicks		Require secure access hosting or to be sent by email. Files over 5MGs, would need to link third-party service.
Interface directly with fulfillment center in most cases		Invoice sent to designated inbox
Misc.
You will be notified of a possible fraudulent account or transaction via your gateway provider -we recommend Authorize.Net		Paypal can cancel or shut down your cart ay any time if they record a possible fraudulent charge.
		According to PayPal accepting their ToS (Terms of Service) in effect means you waive your rights to credit card consumer protection laws if you want to use their service, and that you may not issue a chargeback for unauthorized use of your credit card and PayPal account, or if you do, then they have the right to limit your account.
		They fail to mention their total lack of security to prevent your account from being compromised by phishing & spoof sites. That if your account is accessed by a criminal using one of these methods, PayPal will hold YOU monetarily & legally responsible!
Search Engine Optimization
Built-in		N/A
International Capability
International capability – with Gateways available in the UK, Canada and US only		International capability across all markets. For example, if you want to collect payments in Hong Kong you may do so with PayPal

Garrison Everest is a Denver Web Design Company and Authorized Volusion Reseller. We have been working with Volusion for over 3 years now. We find the platform very flexible and more importantly it gives our clients everything they need to do business online. It also enables them to have a shopping cart / website that can be customized to fit their branding. Contact us to learn more or download our Volusion Web Design Process.

Related Article: Forrester Forecast: Online Retail Sales Will Grow To $250 Billion By 2014

1) What are the most important steps that you took to reach your position?

1. Talent and Education: every designer must first be talented and then have a education; 2. A good understanding of Marketing and Sales: graphic design is the tactical means of communication – if we aren’t selling verbally, we’re selling visually; 3. Learning HTML/CSS and Flash: broadening your skill set and design arsenal makes you more valuable to any design firm. Just because you’re a good designer, doesn’t always guarantee you can implement your ideas. Having a client hire you for a print piece then asking you back to do an online advertising program will always bring more work and credibility to your portfolio; 4. Presentation: You must be able to sell and present yourself professionally (SEE NUM CHUK SKILLS BELOW).

2) How many other designers work with or below you in your department?

2-5. We work with a production artist and a web designer, and then contract out our flash and high-level programming.

3) What is the most important characteristic of a young designer looking to move up?

Talent, presentation and a strong balance between Web and Print. Every designer I believe should know how to construct a simple brochure-ware website and also be able to set up a multi-page print piece. Experience and motivation and the desire to grow is also important. Find a non-profit or someone who will give you experience, even if it means working for free. It will surely bring dividends when applying for an agency position.

4) Is there a source you or your company prefers to enlist new designers from?

Not really. All of the talent agencies I’ve ever worked with discount designers work and expect you to take less than industry standards. Its better to apply directly.

5) What do you look for when hiring new designers?

Experience with clients, strong understanding of how to take ideas and make them real using industry applications and once again – a well-balanced web/print portfolio.

6) What are some common mistakes that new hires make?

I’ve interviewed several designers and most will come in with an unorganized portfolio and the inability to describe to me what the project’s objective and goal was. If you can’t tell me why you did the things you did on a particular piece how will the client understand what his/her return on investment is? Designers must be savvy on color theory, font, layout, form and function and especially how to sell themselves. And in working on any piece, always have someone review your work for spelling. One spelling error can turn a great project into mush. Be patient, in time you will eventually grow into much larger projects and more exciting work!

7) Have you ever done or do you now do any freelance work?

Not really, we are too busy working on agency-related projects.

Is there a scale you use when pricing the work you do?

No. We typically price a project on the amount of time it will take from an hourly rate that then translates into a fixed price. Printing, photography etc. is extra. It doesn’t matter if your a Fortune 500 or a start-up. We believe and know first-hand our work brings value and profit to our client’s businesses.

9) How do you decide what to charge your clients?

See above. We always work on a fixed budget. It gives the client a set price that will not change. We find it works out better at the end of a project. There is nothing worse to a client than going over the price you agreed upon. If it does happen, we make sure they are fully aware. If there is any problems alog the way, we will always eat it. Better to save the relationship and take a hit then to lose the client all together.

10) How do you choose your clients?

We choose them typically on what kind of business they are in, budget and what interests us. We have more experience in one industry than others. We try to find out what kind of people they are through the survey and pre-qualification process and if they will be good to work with. Bad language, unprofessionalism, being disrespectful, late payments are all undesirable in a client. We never take any project that compromises our integrity or the Garrison Everest brand.

11) What sets your company apart from other graphic design firms?

Talent and firms are a dime a dozen. We have to ask ourselves this question all the time due to Denver’s competitive market. It really comes down to who you are and who you work with and what’s your specialty and approach. Without saying to much here… our specialty is delivering exceptional creative work that brings TRUE VALUE that directly affects our client’s brand position. Our approach is to find the white space in which our client’s can best communicate and provide solutions that resonate with their target audience.

12) What advice do you have for someone in college?

Seek experience to gain a balanced portfolio in print and web, don’t let your ego get in the way, present yourself professionally and know how to sell your ideas and yourself. And most of all, be teachable – glean every experience.

In addition, I also want to say I’ve sought to surround myself with like-minded people who are amazing business men/women, marketing minds and creatives. They have contributed immensely to my success and the success of this firm now celebrating 5 years this month. When people see that you are eager, willing to learn and have the talent, the right people in life will see themselves in you and help you by referrals, advice, teaching or by mentoring. I have a strong mentor who contributes to my career growth on a monumental scale. Your work-ethic and reputation will carry you far or stop you short. When I first started I was eager and willing to work hard and do whatever it takes to succeed and through perseverance it has paid off. I can only say that if this is what God made you to be, you will always succeed.

I hope this helps! I invite you to add your comments to this entry.

Regards- Joshua Claflin, President/Creative Director

What was planned to be a normal discover-proposal-execution process turned out to be a series of emails, phone discussions and follow up meetings. You’re probably saying to yourself, you guys must be doing something wrong in qualifying this client. Perhaps, but maybe not…

We scheduled another meeting to present our approach on how we would take this prospects product from concept to retail and what programs we would utilize to for a successful go-to-market strategy. As it turned out the client fibbed about their relationship with potential “guaranteed” retail buyers and did not disclose when asked if he was the real decision maker.

Our planned proposal meeting was planned and as the meeting got started, the man who had ultimate authority to say “yeah” or “nay” on the project ended up being 30 minutes to the presentation.

Anyone who sells for a living knows that this is the ultimate “deal-breaker” scenario. He (main decision maker) joined us and as expected we had to start over again from the beginning and rush through the main points of understanding (we only had an hour) on how building a brand first and then conducting marketing tactics like advertising and infomercials was the best-practices approach versus just storming to market without a through brand foundation – this approach was being pitched by a major infomercial company out of Iowa.

Years of experience has convinced me that without understanding what the brand is, any business risks hanging their investments on the precipice of failure or mediocrity. This argument is what prompted the decision maker to ask the question: How much does it cost to build a brand? – the topic of this blog entry.

Taken from Interbrand Top 100 Global Brands – published in Business Week July 2005.

When 64% of the market value of the world’s most valuable brand (Coca-Cola) is intangible – shown on the balance sheet as $67 billion* in “Brand Value” – there’s something very important here. Think about it – $67 billion in real dollar value – not for bricks and mortar, inventory or equipment – but rather for the economic power of the Coca-Cola name and what it stands for – the power to influence selection of one sugary liquid over others.

The total intangible Brand Value on the balance sheets of the companies that own the world’s top 100 brands is more than $1 trillion!* Another WOW! But this is not just about megacompanies. This is about building intangible Brand Value in any-size company or organization – building the power to differentiate your brand with such clarity of competitive value that selecting your brand over others is an easy choice.

How long does it take to build a brand? I think the answer lies in the importance, need and positioning of the product. Brands like McDonalds, Disney, IBM, Sony and Kodak took many years to build – were brands like Google, iPod, and Facebook took only 1-3 years. No one knows exactly how many millions of dollars where spent on advertising and other business activities, but the fact is if you have a product or service that is truly unique, and that essentially creates a new category – chances are you could build a multi-million or billion dollar brand very fast.

For the rest of us – iPods, Googles and Facebooks don’t happen every day. That is why we continue to advocate brand understanding as the first step in building any kind of business.

We presented our price, shook hands and left knowing this deal wasn’t going to happen. I don’t know where this company or product is no, there website is still not updated and have yet to see an informercial on television. We still believe in the brand development process as we have seen what a strong brand can do and how much value it can bring.

* Preempt your competition
* Increase profitability for long-term sustainability
* Consistent brand delivery spurs employee motivation
* Increase the value of your company over time
* Brand definition brings clarity to your business goals and direction
* A well developed brand works for you 24/7