Many small businesses don’t realize how important their company image really is. The following is a formula for low cost marketing for a small business to create or better their image. To find this formula I interviewed Evan Paull, the owner of a small sign making company based in Annapolis Maryland called ‘Independent Sign Consortium’ or ‘ISC.’ ‘ISC’ was started in 1996 and has had a steady growth ever since. I also interviewed Allison Green, the marketing director of ‘Revisions,’ ‘Revisions’ is based in Baltimore Maryland and is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping the mentally ill. Many small companies believe that a corporate or company image develops all on it’s own. Therefore, they believe the business itself has little or no control over shaping the outcome of the image. Often a company will delay any investment in a public image because they think it’s an expensive luxury. It is only after some bad publicity or a negative event do they relies that some effort needs to be put into improving or defining their look. Of course if you wait until something like this happens the cost is always going to be higher. “Most successful businesses have a carefully crafted image that separates them from the competition and helps to establish a solid public presence,” remarks Allison Green. A distinct corporate image benefits many aspects of any business. Public relations rely on image to attract new customers and to generate repeat business. Finance departments depend on image to impress investors and shareholders with a sense of stability. Employees feel more secure when a company has a good image. An image should always accurately reflect the substance of a company. However, an image is only a perception, an appearance, a representative look of that substance. Subsequently, as Green says, “…it doesn’t always have to cost an...
