They feature the ten basic concepts in my Design 101 series, which you can get when you sign up for my Marketing Toolkit.

In this series, I’m adding short videos to explain the concepts visually. I’d love to hear what you think!

Do your marketing materials pass the three-second test?

You have just a few seconds to make an impression on your prospects.

The first impression is visual: your colors, fonts and overall style make the initial impact.

After you’ve attracted them with your visual brand, your prospects will move on and read your words.

That’s why it’s important to understand basic design concepts if you’re going to market your business yourself.

Whether you design your materials, or you supervise a designer’s work, a basic understanding of the elements of graphic design will help you build a brand that looks good and communicates clearly.

So I ask you again: do your marketing materials pass the three-second test? Tell me about it in the comments.

When your small business has a solid, professional website, it feels like everything is right in the world.

You have a place to invite your prospects, and a way to build interest in all the products and services your business offers.

The bonus? Your website is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s your always-on sales force, ready to move your visitors from prospects to customers.

What’s that you say? Your site isn’t living up to those lofty standards?

Here’s a secret: mine isn’t either. Every time I visit these pages I see things I want to change.

That’s the beauty of websites. They can always be tweaked and improved.

I’ll be working behind the scenes to make mine better in the months ahead. Because a website is never “perfect,” and it’s never really “done.”

Share your website challenges here

Today, I want to hear from you. What element of your website are you working on right now? What do you want to improve? Let me know in the comment section.

And remember, we have a free Brown Bag Webinar today about websites called Structure Your Site for Success. If you haven’t seen it yet, get the replay link by signing up here.

When your site visitors hit your home page for the first time, it takes a second or two for them to orient themselves.

It’s a little like walking out of a dark room on a bright summer day. Their eyes have to acclimate to what they see and take in the structures around them before they can move forward.

It turns out these first few seconds on your site are crucial. If your visitors can’t find what they’re looking for easily, they just click away and go to the next site on the long list the search engine gave them.

What can you do to keep them on your website? How can you make them feel welcome and comfortable from the moment they arrive?

It starts with your site’s navigation menu

Your navigation menu is your website’s unsung hero. It’s the tour guide that’s available 24/7 to show site visitors where things are.

Read on to discover how you can make your navigation menu work best, and scroll to the bottom to sign up for next week’s Brown Bag Webinar called “Structure Your Site for Success,” where you’ll find out even more about how to make your hard-working navigation menu the best it can be.

Get your basics covered

Website navigation menu naming conventions have developed over the past twenty years, and visitors expect to see them on every site they visit. The big three are:

• Home page: A welcome page and home base.
• About page: Where your site visitors find out more about the people behind the business.
• Contact page: How to get in touch with your company and take the next step.

There are two more page types you should consider adding to your navigation menu:

• Products/Services/Store page: The “commerce” section of your site. The title of this page will vary according to your business model.
• Updatable content page: Search engines love sites with content that updates often. The most common way to make this happen on your site is to add a blog. You don’t have to write 2500-word blog posts several times a week, though. Consider adding videos, inspirational quotes, audio interviews, resource lists, “recipes” (not necessarily for food), and posts about sales or discounts. Use your imagination, but find a way to update this section at least a few times a month.

Use logical language

Your navigation menu is not a place to get clever. Put your creativity to one side (save it for your content), and use plain language everyone can understand to direct visitors so they can easily find what they’re looking for.

So instead of “The Scoop on Our Team,” say “About Us.” And instead of “Good Stuff You Can Use,” say “Products.”

When in doubt, go with the words most commonly used to describe each section of your site.

Have a clear path to your popular pages

If you’ve spent any time with your site analytics, you should have a good idea of which pages are most visited on your site.

Make them easy to find. Put them front and center under a menu item called “Popular” or “Start Here.” Consider creating a menu (or submenu) item of its own for this category of information.

Discover how to make your menu work for you

Join Wendy Cholbi and me for a Brown Bag Webinar that explores how to engage, entice and simplify your site’s menu. It’s called Structure Your Site for Success, and you’ll discover:

• The 5 pages every website must have
• How to create your menu items and set up submenus on a WordPress site
• Ninja moves that make your menu easy to use
• How to add a cool tooltip effect to your menu in one easy step
• How to power up your SEO by structuring your menu the right way

Sign up below, and I’ll send you a link to the replay video:

You’ve got a great business idea. You’ve poured all your sweat and hustle into it. But it’s still not quite “there.”

You want to play in the big leagues. But your brand doesn’t look like it belongs. It’s amateurish. It’s small-time. It’s embarrassing.

Your business isn’t growing. You’re not sure how to get the steady stream of prospects (and customers) you need for your business to survive.

You’re overwhelmed with the information that’s available. There’s too much to process, and you don’t know where to start.

You know you’re capable of marketing your business yourself

If only someone would just spell out how to do it, step by step.

You’d like someone to show you the process, provide guidance, and give you a place to ask questions and get help if you get stuck.

Because you’re smart, and you’re capable. With some solid information and guidance, you’ll master the process and move your business forward with confidence.

Spend the next six weeks mastering what you need to grow your business

I’ve developed three programs you can choose from where you can master exactly what you need to grow your business with solid marketing strategies and a polished, professional presentation.

The doors are open right now. Here’s what I have:

Marketing Mastery: You want to understand how to develop a marketing strategy that will grow your business, and you have a solid design background already.

Design Mastery: You want to know how to make your marketing materials look more professional using classic design techniques, and you already understand marketing.

Brand Mastery: You want to grow your business with the powerful combination of marketing and design together. Brand Mastery combines the material in Marketing Mastery and the material in Design Mastery for a complete solution.

Brand Mastery buyers get access to my Brand Creator tool, which is an online tool you fill out as you go through the Mastery modules. You’ll register all your marketing and design decisions and craft a marketing plan for your business. In the end, you’ll have a six-page PDF that will serve as your guide as you market your business now and in the future.

Are you ready to “get” marketing?

Let’s face it, there’s a lot of marketing information out there for small business owners. Between magazines, books and the Internet, we’re swimming in advice, articles and how-tos.

What if you could ignore that confusing (and sometimes contradictory) advice, and focus on a system that’s proven to work?

The difference between the information you’ve already seen and my Mastery programs is this:

• You get a step-by-step system that builds gradually over time so you’re not overwhelmed
• You get the personal support you need in our private member forum — ask questions, get feedback about what you’re working on, and network with others in the program
• You get full access to all lessons, which are delivered in text, audio and video — download lessons and listen as you drive or exercise, or print them out and file them in a notebook
• You get worksheets that share additional information and confirm your understanding of the information you’re mastering
• You get the proven combination of marketing and design for a total solution to market your business

Ready to get started?

Marketing Mastery program
Design Mastery program
Brand Mastery program

Become a part of my inner circle on our monthly private member webinar

All Mastery program members are invited to a live monthly private member webinar. On this webinar I share inside information that’s not available publicly, like how I put together my product launches, my system for creating webinars, how to use free tools to create web graphics, and more.

Webinars feature marketing reviews where we look at one member’s materials in detail. They get my advice and guidance, and feedback from the group. I’ve been told these reviews are one of the most valuable aspects of the program.

You’ll love it or you’ll get your money back

You have a full 30 days to try out the program you choose to see if it’s a good fit for you.

That’s plenty of time to review the modules, videos, audio recordings and worksheets. You can post in the forum and get support and answers to your questions.

Go ahead and take it for a full test drive. If you discover it’s not a good fit for you, just let me know within 30 days and I’ll refund your purchase 100%.

Doors close on June 1

I’d love to help you build a brand that grows your business over the next six weeks, and to continue to support you in the months ahead. Because I work closely with those who join the Mastery programs, I can only open the doors a few times a year.

The Mastery programs won’t be available again until sometime in October.

Why wait? If you join me now, by October you’ll be enjoying the growth that comes from having a solid brand for your business.

Let’s work together to build a BIG brand for your business

Marketing Mastery program
Design Mastery program
Brand Mastery program

Questions?

All the details about these programs can be found when you click on the links above. If you have any other questions, please let me know in the comments and I’ll clarify anything you need to know.

• Do your prospects really know what you offer?
• Do they understand how your business is unique?
• If you asked them to describe your business in one sentence, could they do it?

If you answered “no” to any of the previous questions, it might be time to finally build the BIG brand your business deserves.

But what exactly is a BIG Brand? Here you are reading a website called “Big Brand System.” What does that mean?

What Life’s Like When Your Brand is Big

Did you know that Big Brand System is actually kind of … small? I’m just a one-woman show operating out of a home office, and that has been the case for the past 21 years since I started my design and marketing studio.

But in the past couple of weeks, I have been:

• Listed as one of the “Best of the Best” on Copyblogger’s new Authority program sales page
• Contacted by an editor at CNN Money print magazine for an article on email marketing
• Linked to by Gene Marks of the New York Times Small Business section for last week’s post on getting great testimonials

I repeat: I’m a one-woman show working from a home office. But what I have going for me is a big brand — one I’ve been building online since 2010.

When your brand is big, here’s what happens:

• Your prospects know what you offer, understand its value, and buy your products and services with confidence.
• You are recognized by your peers, and offered opportunities for joint venture projects that may not be available to less recognizable brands.
• You find it easy to sell new products or services because your customer base trusts and likes your business — they’ve come to expect the best from your company.
• Your business grows, because you consistently bring in new prospects, convert them to customers, and keep them happy over time.

Don’t get me wrong: it’s not easy. It takes dedication and hard work.

Most importantly, it takes applying your efforts in the right way, toward the right goals, and with the right tools.

You could spin your wheels for years and never make it. But when you truly understand the system for building a big brand, you’ll see your efforts pay off with increased recognition, customers and income.

Don’t Continue to Suffer with a Wimpy Brand

Are you ready to learn what the “system” part of Big Brand System means?

Are you tired of your ineffective brand, and ready to do the work needed to set up a system of marketing and design that grows a big brand for your business?

Sign Up for the Private Mentoring Group Today

Next Tuesday, I’ll offer an exclusive webinar to members of this month’s Private Mentoring Group.

In this webinar, I’ll detail all the elements that go into creating a BIG brand for your business. You’ll discover what the “system” in Big Brand System means.

And at the end of the webinar, all attendees will be invited to join the Big Brand System Mastery programs at a discounted rate that’s only available to Private Mentoring Group members.

Want in on the action? Join the Private Mentoring Group. Take advantage of exclusive access and advice from me this week only. Let’s work together to create your best brand yet!