VI Course – Develop an Identity for Your Business
Planning Week 3
Establish an Identity for Your Business
A Compelling Business Identity Gets People to Stop and Learn More
There are three key tasks to be completed in creating an attention-getting identity for your business:
1. Select an appropriate domain name to identify your web location.
2. Select a marketing or “brand name” for your business and turn it into a visual tool with an attractive logo design.
3. Choose an appropriate business address.
For this planning decision, you will be assisted by our Support Team.
See directions below.
Note: Another critical component of a powerful business identity is your website.
We will discuss this in Planning Week 4.
Business Identity Form: At the bottom of this page, you will find a data submission form. You will enter various bits of information into this from decisions you will make while completing this planning section. You can enter information in the form as you, go but don’t hit the Submit button until you are done filling in the form.
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Business/Domain Name Selection
How To Do It
There are potentially two different types of names you may wish to choose to identify your business.
a. A legal business name.
This may not say anything about what your business does, but could instead be, for example, a combination of your two children’s first names – say JanBo with a suffix like “Enterprises” added to make the name sound more business like.
b. A Web identifier name (domain name).
This name choice should definitely help identify what line of business you are in, for example: chicagoquickbookservices.com.
You are not required to use one of each kind of name – you may use your domain name as your legal name.
For example, the marketing company behind the Virtual Incubator Business Startup Coaching Program is known as Bizstarters.com LLC (the LLC designates the legal form, which we will cover later in the Planning Course).
Some marketing experts assert that using your domain name as your legal business name reinforces your marketing “brand” each time you hand out a business card, send a business letter or issue an invoice to a customer.
Regardless of whether you choose to use both a legal business name and a domain name or just a domain name, the next step is the same – you need to select a domain name.
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Web Hosting Setup and Domain Name Registration
How to Do It
1. Discuss prospective domain names with your VI coach. He will likely recommend one over the others. He will use an online service to check availability of your favorite domain name while you are speaking, If it is not available, then you two must work to find one that you like and which is available.
2. Our Support Team will set up an account to host your website . They will also register your exclusive use of chosen domain name for one year.
Fee For Service: Your Virtual Incubator Coaching Package price includes domain registration for one year and website hosting for one year. You will receive notices via e-mail to renew both for a second year.
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Logo Design
The appearance of your logo design flows from your chosen domain name.
But, the design can be rendered in a wide variety of colors.
How to Do It
1. Go to colorpalettes.net. Search the various color combinations until you find one that really appeals to you. Record the id number shown on the computer screen.
2. Use the form at the bottom of this section to send your desired color scheme to our Support Team. Our experts will choose the one or two colors from your palette to use in your logo design.
Fee For Service: Your Virtual Incubator Coaching Package price includes a logo design, sent to you in several file formats.
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Business Location Selection
How To Do It
Locate at home
1. If you definitely know that you will locate your business in your home, then your only decision is whether to use your home address as your business address or to rent an outside mail box, such as those available at UPS Stores.
2. If you do choose to use an outside mailbox, Click here to enter the UPS Store site and use the store locator to find the nearest location to your home. Go to the nearest store and rent a mailbox. The cost is usually $90 per quarter with a minimum one quarter time period to start.
Locate outside of home
1. If you feel strongly that you must use an outside location to house your business, then your location decision can become quite a bit more complicated.
We suggest that you consider a “shared services suite” building.
To see if there is one near you, go to google.com and enter “[city name] share services suites”.
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Business Cards
How To Do It
Once your logo design is completed and you have chosen your business address, these two items will be combined with certain information about you and your company to create an eye-catching business card design.
This design is then used to print business cards for your new business.
But, you need to add some information to the logo.
Business Card Design & Printing.
1. Use the form at the bottom of this section to send the following business card information to our Support Team:
- The preferred spelling of your name.
- A job title if desired or professional credentials to be included, such as CPA.
- Your business phone number.
- Street address of your business (OPTIONAL. Most cards today don’t include this).
2. Our Support Team will add your new business e-mail address (generated through your web host) and your domain name to your business cards.
3. We will send you a proof of the business card design for your approval. You are permitted one round of revisions.
4. Upon your approval, we will send your business card for printing. Your cards will be sent directly to your business address.
Fee For Service: The Virtual Incubator Coaching Package price includes 500 full-color business cards.