Many books have been written about guerilla marketing, but few small business owners can define it. The same way a guerilla uses creativity to win a war, the small business owner can use ingenious and original methods to triumph over the competition. Here are a few ways you can use guerilla marketing to find success in small business.

1. Talk to local trade organizations. Many of these associations are constantly looking for speakers on niche topics, so pick up your phone and call around. Giving speeches as an expert on your subject has two effects. First, it makes you appear to be an authority in your field, which is always a positive impression. Second, it spreads the word about your business to many potential customers. This win-win situation costs your business absolutely nothing.

2. Treat your customers like friends. This is one area where small businesses can offer more than a large corporation ever could. You can send out not just Christmas and other holiday cards, but also cards for birthdays, graduations, and other events. If mailings are too expensive, even a phone call gets across the point that you are a smaller, more caring alternative to the more impersonal competition.

3. Advertise in unlikely places. Everyone is used to ignoring a flyer left under their windshield wiper or on their doorstep. Try tucking your business communications inside relevant books at the library or in other places where people who need your services are likely to turn. This will reduce your printing costs from becoming someone else’s trash while getting your message directly to the people who need it. Think creatively like this about all marketing expenses; you might be surprised about where you can be more effective and more targeted in your communications.

4. Generate buzz. If you do things that make people talk—in a good way, of course—you will be sure to get a lot of buzz. Always be on the lookout for opportunities to become your local media’s next human interest story. Many flagging small businesses have found huge success when they caught the interest of national media; while this is difficult to do, you can get a similar though smaller effect from your much more approachable local networks.

5. Be loyal to your brand. Make sure your brand and your logo design always take center stage. However exciting guerilla marketing can be, it is easy to get carried away and take actions that are not representations of your brand. Because this will only weaken and diminish your business in the long run, guard against it carefully. Before taking any action, ask yourself: does this work with my brand? How will it affect me in the future? How will my target customer feel about this? Asking these questions will help you make good decisions.

As you can see, guerilla marketing means being creative and motivated. Luckily, imagination and drive are two things that most business owners have plenty of. Use your skills to promote your business and don’t be afraid to be different from the pack.

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The globe seems to be shrinking, with even small businesses branching into new markets in new countries. However, many find that they don’t achieve the success they were seeking. A large part of this problem is due to a lack of understanding of the interplay between international positioning and branding.

If you currently have a small business in the USA, there is a good chance that you already have basics like a logo design, brand, and position. However, what many business owners don’t recognize is that, while a logo design and brand remain fairly stable even through expansions, a company’s positioning may have to be modified in order to find success in a new market. Luckily, this can be done through a few simple steps:

1. Identify your market. This basically includes information about your potential customers.

2. Identify what makes your product or products unique in the market. What problem will they solve for your target customer? Do they have a unique or unusual benefit?

3. Examine how these interact with your brand. If your position and your brand don’t ‘go together’ well, you will need to return to the drawing board. Obviously you don’t want to diminish the power of your brand while trying to expand it.

4. Present these unique aspects to people in your market. Their feedback will help you modify your positioning until it perfectly fits your target customers’ needs.

When you were first starting your business, you likely did the first two steps intuitively and completed the third by asking friends and family. Unfortunately this will not be as simple when dealing with a new market. When dealing with a new area or a nation outside the USA, this process becomes much more difficult because you don’t automatically understand the way your new customer base operates. Your challenge is to identify how your products and services are going to help them and then position your product as a solution to a problem. In this situation, it is essential to get feedback from people who understand the way the unique local culture operates.

One important thing to remember is that your position is separate from your brand. While your brand should remain relatively unchanging, your position can and should vary from market to market. This is due to a difference in values and perceived needs from place to place. However, your position in different markets certainly should be congruent with your brand and your logo design.

Much of this seems intuitive when you are dealing with your own area. However, even if you are running a business in Cleveland or elsewhere in the USA, this exercise can be extremely beneficial because it helps you to understand your position in your own market.

Many people misunderstand the difference between a brand and a position, but they are actually quite easy to tell apart. If your brand is a noun, your position is a verb. However, there is one key thing that branding and positioning have in common: they both serve to differentiate your business from the many others out there and help you build a strong future.

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Few people think of a celebrity chef as a small business success story, but just a little more than ten years ago Mario Batali was a small time chef just opening his first restaurant. The fact that he is a household name a decade later with fourteen successful restaurants only underscores the extreme success that small business owners can find with careful marketing and good management.

According to Mr. Batali, success is a simple formula, with personnel being the first part. Everyone from the bus boys to the head wait staff must feel that they are appreciated by their employer and come to work ready to give their very best. This creates a service environment that will keep the customers coming back as well.

Another key to small business success according to Mr. Batali is having experts advise you along the way along with a strong logo design. This can be in the form of a consultant, an employee, or even a business partner. In Batali’s case, his business partner Joe Bastianich handles many of the nitty details that would otherwise keep the celebrity chef far from his kitchen.

Another part of success that often gets lost in the muddle is quality. Batali is quick to point out that restauranteurs who are short on time or money will skimp on either materials or time, choosing lower quality options that compromise the strength of the brand and keep customers from coming back. This is a common pitfall in every type of small business, but luckily one that can be managed by careful quality control.

Batali sees his role as a celebrity as different and separate from his role as a chef and restauranteur. While his many shows certainly provide free publicity for his restaurant logos, they also take a significant amount of time away from them. However, he sees his media appearances, businesses, and cookbooks as a single brand, with all aspects complimenting and bolstering each other. By paying careful attention to the Mario Batali brand, this chef has been able to become a small business success story.

Mario Batali is quick to point out that, despite his meteoric rise to fame, the restaurant business can be extremely brutal. He is quick to point out that around 70% of all new restaurants fail, often for lack of attending to one of the issues mentioned above. He admits that he would be reluctant to open a restaurant in the current economy unless the conditions were just right. Current trends point to affordable, comfort food as a trend in down economies, so this may be one such untapped market.

As you can see, not just success but wild, unbelievable success are available to the small business owner who makes wise decisions and takes branding seriously. Not every restaurant owner can be the next Mario Batali, but there is plenty of room for success in this and all other fields of small business. By paying attention to personnel, controlling quality, branding intelligently, and hiring consultants when necessary, you too can find the same success.

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We tend to focus more on logos with a lot of frills because there is simply more to talk about. However, few consumers think about how the simple, iconic logo designs and minimalistic logos around them have a huge effect. You may not spend a lot of time thinking about the Nike logo, but it nonetheless has a very powerful subconscious effect. Here are the top ten simple logos, along with what exactly makes them so effective.

1. Nike Logo Design

This may look like a basic swoosh, but it says so much about the brand. This simple shape communicates movement, change, and innovation in a single, wordless shape. As a bonus, it also resembles a rounded version of a checkmark. Because the swoosh is different from every other shape and image used in logo design, it is highly recognizable and easy to identify. This logo likely has had a huge part in the success of this company as well as its ability to expand seamlessly to new markets.

2. Apple Logo Design

The bitten apple will always be indelibly related to this company, which means it is a complete logo design success. Although the image has been used in a variety of colors, from a self-contained rainbow to basic, shiny silver, it is still associated with Apple. The bite out of the apple is the secret to this equation. It arouses enough interest to keep people looking, although it certainly does not complicate the logo design or detract from its simplicity.

3. WWF Logo Design

This nonprofit organization has a logo design that has changed very little over the decades, in part because there is no reason to make a substantial change away from this simple, effective image. The initials are rounded and friendly, but bold enough to have a definite presence. This gentle rounding is reflected in the circular panda bear. Because a panda bear is an easily recognizable animal that needs protection from organizations such as this, it is a very appropriate spokesperson indeed.

4. London Underground Logo Design

This well known ‘Roundel’ features a red circle with a blue bar intersecting it. While this seems simple, it actually says a lot. Circles are inclusive shapes, which makes them appropriate for any type of public services. They also are roughly the shape of a subway tube. The red and blue are the colors of the British flag, while the rounded white writing in the blue crossbar make it easy for people to read. This logo design is easy to recognize at a distance, which is crucial for subway signs. However, it is also distinctively British in color and very appropriate for its industry, which makes it relevant as well.

5. FedEx Logo Design

This logo design is all about hidden messages. The deep blue is relaxing and trustworthy, while the orange is youthful and fun. The combination is high contrast and very eye catching. Although this is usually perceived as a text-based logo, it in fact has the image of an arrow hidden inside the letters. Can you see it?

6. USA Network Logo Design

Television networks have a tall order when it comes to logo design. First, they must have a logo design that communicates exactly what makes them and their programming different from the competition. Second, they must have a logo design that is simple enough to be recognizable while crammed into the corner of a television screen. The USA Network’s logo design meets both requirements. The way the ‘S’ is created from negative space is interesting and intelligent, which says nothing but good about the network. The boldness of the letters implies that this is a ‘big’ network, which in this case is accurate. Last, the use of lower case letters adds a friendly touch that is so important in entertainment.

7. Coca-Cola Logo Design

Few companies have achieved quite the level of success that Coca-Cola enjoys, and this eminence is shown in the logo design itself. Instead of a busy image, the logo design is simple the name of the company written in its signature, cursive font. The way the letters end in swirling shapes is very relevant to refreshing liquids and also gives a feeling of movement. The red color is often seen in food and beverage logos, and this appropriate here.

8. BBC Logo Design

The BBC is a classic, dependable company with a long history, which makes the traditional square an ideal shape for this logo design. The letters are thin and unimposing, which creates a sense of balance against the heavy black shapes. There isn’t a lot to say about this logo design, but everyone recognizes it and associates it with the company it represents.

9. Mercedes Benz Logo Design

The logo design for this upscale company is seen and envied on streets all over the world, which is a testimony to its simplicity and high recognition. The circular shape is friendly, but there is actually a story behind this simple logo design. Mercedes once manufactured airplanes, and their logo design is a rough representation of airplane propellers when looking straight on. This relationship to the company history is not well known, but definitely creates an attractive image.

10. Shell Logo Design

This is another logo design that has aged well, needing only the occasional ‘facelift’ to remain relevant in an ever changing market. The shell shape obviously relates directly to the name, while the red and yellow provide high contrast and are also associated with fast food. The rays in the shell combined with its bright yellow color create a subtle resemblance to a dawning sun as well, which is positive and friendly.

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What’s in a heart? Not only is this shape a representative of love and affection, it also is the life force of the human body. A heart can have extremely positive connotations, but it also can be seen as cliché and even childish. As we will see from the following ten heart logos, there are ways to use this shape in logo design while maintaining adult sophistication and complete seriousness. The following ten logos get at the heart of logo design, both literally and figuratively.

1. Pathos Logo Design

The Pathos logo uses a heart formed from swirling shapes in two barely different shades of red. The waves imply movement while also adding interest to the otherwise mundane heart shape. The writing is friendly in rounded lower case letters with a modern edge. This logo design takes a well known shape and puts a new and interesting spin on it, which is definitely the thumbprint of a professional.

2. Webend Logo Design

This company uses a heart, but this time it is formed out of two of the letters in a clever yet legible manner. Instead of red or pink, this logo design goes for a youthful look with sunny yellow. Again we see the rounded lower case font, and with the same friendly effect. The black lettering is just serious enough to balance the design and lend a little credibility.

3. Bugluv Logo Design

Very few people love bugs, but this logo design manages to create an insect image that many will feel an affection for. The image of a small bug with heart shaped wings is beyond cute, and ties perfectly into the name. Rounded, lower case writing seems to be the norm with heart-based logos, and this one is no exception.

4. Sky of Love Logo Design

How can you form an airplane out of a heart? This logo design is ingenious just because it manages to perform this impossible task in an attractive and realistic manner. It’s hard to think of a color scheme more appropriate for this subject that a sky blue and fluffy cloud white. As a bonus, Sky of Love ignores the lower case wording that seems to be the norm with this type of logo and instead uses more serious capital letters that nonetheless are rounded to be a little less formidable.

5. Inlove Logo Design

It’s hard to figure out exactly what the image in this logo design is. Obviously there is a heart. However, is it topped with a crown for royalty, or is it merely a more realistic, anatomically accurate heart? The gold color suggests that royalty is the true meaning of this logo, but there is no way to tell for sure. Either way, the image is attractive and contributes to an interesting logo. The plain writing does not add to or detract from the heart, which is likely the best approach in this case.

6. Pixellove Logo Design

This logo design features a pixilated heart image, which perfectly complements the business name and brand. Again we see lower case, rounded lettering, although in a business like black. For the heart, only red would do here. The use of a tagline here is very appropriate because it would be difficult to guess the line of business from the logo design alone. Although the pixilation of the logo design might have led to a busy and overcrowded image, the use of one color alone kept it simple and memorable.

7. PenPals Logo Design

Instead of using a heart to form another shape, this logo design uses images to create a heart. The pen nibs crossed to form a heart contribute to a visually interesting and yet very relevant shape. The use of red helps to promote the heart effect; in another color, the fact that this is a heart would not have been so clear. Rounded yet thick letters help complete a well rounded and unique logo design.

8. Threesome Logo Design

Because the word threesome brings up somewhat naughty images, this logo design has to walk a fine line between being appropriate for the name and being too naughty for the general public. Instead of referring to the name itself, this logo design features an asymmetrical heart that was drawn to have three halves rather than two. This hints at the adult content that the name implies without ever actually referring to it. To be a little friendlier, the writing is in rounded lower case letters in basic black. This logo effectively handles a scandalous name and even defuses it.

9. Love Your Business Logo Design

Because this logo design obviously is aimed at businesses, the romantic associations of the heart must be played down. A serious, modern color palette is the first step toward this, with a bright, contemporary green against a sober dark brown in the background. This effect is further enhanced by the use of a very plain, newsy font for the wording. Turning the heart on its side to form a ‘B’ is clever enough to grab the customers’ attention without being too playful for a business logo.

10. I Love Moustache Logo Design

This was actually a personal identity logo for an unknown person, but it has become a cult classic through the internet. An ‘I’ and a heart are used as eyes for the man in question, The logo design is similar to the well known I Heart NY logo, which adds a little sophistication to the mix. The lack of writing is appropriate because it allows people to focus on the simple, attractive image without any distractions. Whoever the person that this brand represents, I can only imagine that it suits them well.

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